iiaemmlG  Donation 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

N*W  YORK  •    BOSTON  •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES 


BY 

ERNEST  A.  DENCH 

Author  of  "Playwriting  for  the 
Cinema,"  etc. 


Stem  ?0rk 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1919 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1915, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  clcctrotyped.     Published  November,  1915.     Reprinted 
February,  1917. 


iV 


NartoooH  ^ress: 
Berwick  &  Smith  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

Have  I  committed  an  indiscretion  by 
writing  this  book?  I  must  plead  not  guilty 
if  I  should  be  thus  accused. 

Various  writers  on  stagecraft  who  have 
opposed  taking  you  behind  the  scenes  argue 
that  to  give  the  show  away  has  proved  dis- 
astrous in  the  case  of  spectacular  theatrical 
productions  and  trick  vaudeville  stunts. 
They  are  right  in  their  own  way,  but  why 
should  they  draw  comparisons  with  an  art 
which  has  set  a  new  precedent  in  the  enter- 
tainment world? 

Setting  free  the  various  secrets  of  motion 
picture  producing  may  disillusion  you  in 
some  things,  but  it  will  reveal  the  significant 
fact  that  motion  pictures  do  not  depend  for 
success  upon  their  power  to  mystify. 

The  fact  has  been  partly  revealed  before, 
for    magazines    and    newspapers    have    sup- 


J     I      '  u 


vi  PREFACE 

plied  occasional  articles  on  the  fascinating 
subject  of  the  "movies." 

Has  the  popularity  of  the  photoplay  di- 
minished since  this  began?  No,  a  thou- 
sand times  no. 

Consider  with  this  the  attitude  of  the 
largest  American  film  producing  concern. 
In  California  they  have  a  town  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  producing  of  motion  pic- 
tures. It  has  been  named  Universal  City. 
They  have  made  it  one  of  the  attractions 
of  California;  you  have  only  to  refer  to  the 
literature  by  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad  to  dis- 
cover this  for  yourself.  Two  thousand  per- 
sons visit  it  daily.  If  you  are  sufficiently  in- 
terested in  motion  pictures  you  are  welcomed 
at  the  gates  of  this  curious  town,  and  are 
shown  over  by  a  guide  so  that  you  can  see 
photoplays  being  put  on. 

When  an  entertainment  can  do  this  much 
and  still  maintain  its  vast  hold  on  you  it  just 
goes  to  prove  that  the  photoplay  exists  on 
its  merits  alone.  Nothing  else  counts.  A 
great  and  glorious  victory,  to  be  sure. 

I  therefore  think  I  have  been  justified  in 
writing  "Making  the   Movies."     It  is  one 


PREFACE  vii 

of  the  first  attempts  to  cover  the  fascinating 
subject  under  one  roof,  so  to  speak. 

The  Author. 

P.S.  The  author  has  to  thank  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Motion  Picture  Magazine  and 
the  Picture  Play  Weekly  for  reproducing 
several  articles  which  originally  appeared  in 
their  publications. 


CHAPTER 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Putting  on  a  Photoplay  ....  i 
Do  the  Photoplayers  Have  an  Under- 
study?         9 

Eyesight    Damage    Caused    Through 

the  Motion  Picture  Arcs  ...  12 
Do  the  Players  Drink  Intoxicants  in 

Motion  Pictures? 15 

Those  Troublesome  Child  Players.  .  19 
Hiring  Players  Free  For  the  Movies  23 
Movie    Stars   Who   Risk   Their   Lives 

for  Realistic   Films 27 

Motion   Picture   Making  Towns   and 

Estates 33 

Utilising  Country  Estates  for  Motion 

Picture  Plays 38 

How  Railroad  Photoplays  are  Made  44 
Putting    the    Thrills     in     Railroad 

Movie    Dramas 49 

Making     Marine     Dramas     for     the 

Movies        53 

How  Fire  Films  are  Taken  ...  58 
Using  Autos  in  the  Movies  ....  61 
Underground  With  a  Movie  Camera    64 

Aviation  in  the  Movies 66 

Filming     Earthquakes — Before     and 

After 70 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII    Producing  a  Biblical  Motion  Picture    75 
XIX    Controlling    Wild    Animals    on    the 

Film 80 

XX    Why  Naval  Movies  are  so  Scarce  .     .     84 
XXI    Presenting  Cafes  and  Hotels  in  Mo- 
tion   Pictures 87 

XXII    The  Dangers  of  Employing  Redskins 

as  Movie  Actors 92 

XXIII  Musical  Matters  in  Motion  Picture 

Producing        95 

XXIV  How  Trick  Photoplays  are  Produced  .  100 
XXV    "Reel"   Money   Matters       .     .     .      .106 

XXVI    The  Irregulars  of  Filmdom     .     .     .no 
XXVII    Taking  Exteriors  by  night  .     .     .     .113 
XXVIII    Exploring  by  Motion  Pictures  .     .     .117 
XXIX    How  Microbes  and  Insects  are  "Cap- 
tured" for  the  Motion  Pictures  .     .  124 
XXX    The  Obstacles  Encountered  in  Film- 
ing Royalties 131 

XXXI     Floriculture  by  Motion  Pictures  .     .136 
XXXII    What  Movie  Camera  Operators  Have 

to  Undergo 139 

XXXIII  Taking  the  Animated  Newspaper  .     .  143 

XXXIV  Making  Cartoons  for  the  Movies  .     .   147 
XXXV    Taking  Films  Under  the  Sea  .     .     .150 

XXXVI    The  Movie  Soldier  and  His  Work  .     .154 
XXXVII    Waging  a  Movie  Battle  on  the  Euro- 
pean Warring  Powers 159 

XXXVIII     The  Movie  Firing  Line  in  England  .  168 
XXXIX    The   Practical    Side   of   Filming  the 

European   War 173 

XL    In  a  Film  Factory 176 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

What  a  motion  picture  studio  looks  like    .     Frontispiece 


FACING 
PAGE 


How  interior  scenes  are  staged  in  the  open    ...     14 

King    Baggot,    Imp    star,    making    up 34 

This  director  prefers  to  use  a  megaphone  ....     34 

Putting  on  a  scene  in  a  mansion  hired  by  the  Vita- 
graph  Company.  The  transportable  arc  lamps 
at    both    sides    provide    sufficient    illumination     .      38 

The    auto    bus    is    used    to   transport    players    to    the 

desired    locations 62 

The  director  delivering  final  instructions  to  the  play- 
ers before  the   scene   is  filmed 90 

Directing  a  bunch  of  extras  in  a  Wall  Street  photo- 
play      no 

Taking  a  battle  scene no 

Directing    a    big    scene    in    a    drama    based    on    the 

European    war         168 


MAKING   THE   MOVIES 

CHAPTER  I 

PUTTING  ON   A    PHOTOPLAY 

IT  must  seem  to  many  that  the  production 
of  a  photoplay  rests  entirely  with  the  au- 
thor, players  and  photographer.  Yet  if  the 
truth  be  known,  they  have  comparatively 
little  to  do  with  putting  on  the  picture  in  a 
satisfactory  manner.  Good  actors,  authors 
and  photographers  are  indispensable,  but  un- 
less they  are  guided  by  a  talented  director, 
results  will  be  disappointing.  The  director 
is  the  man. 

The  movie  director  has  command  of 
everything.  The  scenario  is  first  handed  to 
him  by  the  scenario  editor,  who  has  done  his 
best  to  fit  in  the  play  with  the  demands. 
Few  scenarios  are  produced  as  they  are  writ- 
ten,  for  no  two  minds  think  alike  and  the 

i 


2  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

director  frequently  changes  things  that  are 
not  even  faulty.  This  is  why  efforts  from 
certain  studios  seem  to  run  in  the  same 
groove. 

After  the  director  has  done  all  the 
amending  in  accordance  with  his  fancy,  he 
prepares  a  prop  list,  with  particulars  of 
furniture  and  other  articles  that  are  required 
for  the  scenes.  If  any  of  these  do  not  hap- 
pen to  be  available  they  are  hired  from  local 
dealers.  He  then  peruses  the  scene  plot  to 
discover  the  number  and  descriptions  of  in- 
terior settings  required.  Instructions  are 
issued  to  the  studio  hands,  who  get  busy 
painting  and  erecting  the  different  sets. 
Next  he  hands  copies  of  the  scenario  to  the 
leading  players  so  they  can  prepare  for  the 
roles  assigned  them. 

This  last,  however,  is  of  secondary  im- 
portance. The  director's  first  task  is  to 
obey  what  is  known  as  the  standard  length 
rule.  He  has  to  compress  a  story  of  fifteen 
hundred  feet  into  exactly  one  reel,  one  thou- 
sand feet,  or  else  pad  it  out  to  two  full  reels. 
This  causes  him  to  figure  on  so  many  feet 
for  each  scene.     If  the  players  fail  to  ap- 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  3 

proach  the  speed  limit  they  are  drilled  until 
they  do. 

Although  some  directors  exceed  their 
powers,  it  is  they  who  can  make  or  mar  a 
player.  Frequently  a  director  is  called 
upon  to  shape  a  photoplayer  out  of  raw  ma- 
terial and  it  has  been  by  his  patience  in  so 
doing  that  some  of  the  stars  are  with  us  to- 
day. The  difference  between  the  experi- 
enced player  and  the  trained  director  is  that 
the  former  cannot  see  his  faults,  whereas  the 
latter  can. 

No  photoplay  is  put  on  in  a  logical  man- 
ner from  beginning  to  end.  One  day  all  the 
interiors  are  done  and  on  the  next  day  the 
company  is  out  scouting  about  the  land  for 
suitable  exterior  scenes.  In  this  machine- 
like way  the  players  nearly  lose  track  of  the 
story,  and  their  acting  is  simply  done  in  por- 
tions. The  director  follows  this  method  be- 
cause it  saves  a  considerable  amount  of 
time. 

It  is  only  when  the  minor  members  of  the 
company  are  called  for  rehearsal  that  they 
learn  the  story  of  the  picture  and  the  parts 
they  are  to  take.     Then  when  everybody  has 


4  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

made  up  and  dressed,  and  the  scenes  and 
properties  are  arranged,  the  director  ex- 
plains the  plot  to  all.  How  he  wants  it  to 
be  acted  he  describes  by  gestures. 

A  scene  has  frequently  to  be  rehearsed  sev- 
eral times  before  it  satisfies  him,  then  the 
command  comes  at  once :  "All  right,  this  is 
the  picture."  This  is  a  film  command  for 
the  camera  man  to  begin  his  work  and  for 
the  actors  to  do  their  best. 

The  director's  work  does  not  end  here. 
He  stands  by  the  camera  with  scenario  in  hand 
while  the  operator  is  turning  the  crank.  Per- 
haps he  notices  that  the  heroine  has  moved 
out  of  focus,  so  he  promptly  calls  out.  The 
player,  however,  must  not  show  that  she  is 
obvious  of  her  error  by  looking  at  the  camera, 
but  must  get  back  to  the  prescribed  lines  in 
a  natural  manner.  The  director  must  also 
be  on  the  alert  for  overacting  and  divers 
other  faults. 

There  is  also  co-operation  between  the 
camera  man  and  director,  for  otherwise  the 
clever  photographic  effects  so  often  seen  in 
photoplays  would  not  be  possible.  Weather 
and  artificial  lighting  conditions  have  likewise 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  5 

to  be  given  consideration  to  ensure  satisfac- 
tory results. 

After  the  negative  has  been  developed  it 
is  run  off  in  the  miniature  projecting  room 
and  many  stops  are  made  while  the  director 
orders  cuts  to  be  made  and  explanatory  mat- 
ter added. 

Going  back  to  the  acting,  when  a  director 
requires  a  good-looking  young  woman,  he 
will  turn  her  down  should  her  beauty  merely 
be  in  the  coloring  of  her  hair  and  face. 
What  he  wants  is  a  face  whose  beauty  is  its 
shape.  He  will  select  a  blonde  in  preference 
to  a  brunette,  as  the  hair  of  the  blonde  comes 
out  dark  on  the  screen  and  contrasts  well 
with  the  face.  The  same  is  true  of  people 
with  red  hair. 

Many  players  secure  an  engagement  just 
because  they  happen  to  be  a  type,  for  the  mo- 
tion picture  camera  is  an  unrelenting  critic, 
and  the  director  prefers  selecting  the  player 
he  needs  rather  than  to  court  failure  in  mak- 
ing up  one  physically  unfitted  for  the  part. 

There  are  two  thought  transference  medi- 
ums which  form  the  stock  in  trade  of  the 
photoplayer.     They  are  facial  expression  and 


6  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

gesture.  A  photoplayer,  to  be  successful, 
must  be  sincere  and  act  naturally,  avoiding 
all  meaningless  gestures  and  overacting. 

The  actor  must  be  very  cautious  in  the 
speed  of  his  movements,  for  if  he  was  to  walk 
briskly  before  the  camera,  it  would  appear 
as  a  run  on  the  film.  Every  second  sixteen 
different  pictures  are  recorded  on  the  narrow 
strip  of  celluloid,  and  if  the  player  does  not 
want  his  walk  to  come  out  blurred,  he  must 
take  good  care  not  to  travel  faster  then  six- 
teen inches  per  second. 

The  width  of  the  stage  before  the  lens  of 
the  camera  is  six  feet,  in  which  narrow 
space  a  batch  of  players  have  to  work  together 
without  betraying  the  fact  that  they  are  per- 
forming under  cramped  conditions.  The 
width,  however,  can  be  greater  as  the  dis- 
tance increases,  but  oftentimes  important 
situations  have  to  be  acted  through  at  close 
quarters. 

If  the  director  is  not  careful,  and  the  ac- 
tors equally  alert,  the  work  of  a  player  in  the 
background  will  be  concealed  from  view.  So 
you  will  see  that  careful  attention  has  to  be 
given  to  the  grouping. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  7 

Woe  betide  a  player  if  he  reported  for 
duty  wearing  a  perfectly  white  suit  or  dress. 
The  director  would  promptly  tell  him  to  dis- 
card it  in  favor  of  yellow  wearing  material, 
even  down  to  the  collar  and  shirt.  This  is 
owing  to  the  fact  that  white  photographs  a 
chalky  color. 

Make-up  is  an  art  in  itself,  and  colors  pro- 
duce an  effect  opposite  to  the  normal  when 
seen  on  the  film.  Rouge,  for  instance,  comes 
out  black,  and  yellow  grease  paint  is  used 
sparingly,  cold  cream  being  first  applied  to  the 
face.  After  the  application  of  the  paint 
powder  is  added. 

The  players  do  not  have  set  lines  to  go  by, 
but,  after  understanding  the  plot  of  the  play, 
they  utter  sentences  that  seem  natural  to  the 
situations.  Although  we  do  not  hear  their 
words,  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  they  are 
allowed  to  speak  in  a  careless  fashion.  They 
have,  in  fact,  to  pronounce  their  words  slowly 
and  carefully.  Words  like  "Yes,"  "No," 
"Father"  and  "Mother"  are  often  caught  by 
the  inexperienced  lip  reader  by  reason  of  the 
pains  the  players  take.  The  recognised  rule 
is  to  divide  single  syllables  into  two.     This 


8  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

means  that  if  a  star  had  to  repeat  the  word 
"Mother,"  he  would  say  it  in  this  way: 
"M-other." 


CHAPTER  II 

DC  THE  PHOTOPLAYERS  HAVE  AN 
UNDERSTUDY? 

THE  question  raised  in  this  chapter  can- 
not be  answered  in  a  few  words.  To 
begin  with,  let  us  turn  to  the  legitimate  stage. 
Here  every  leading  player  has  an  understudy 
for  his  or  her  part,  for  as  one  role  is  played 
often  for  months  at  a  stretch  there  is  the 
liability  of  the  lead  falling  ill  at  a  critical 
time.  It  is  therefore  advisable  to  have 
another  player  who  understands  the  part  to 
fall  back  upon  in  the  case  of  emergency. 

This  is  not  so  noticeable  on  the  theatrical 
stage  when  the  play  is  gone  over  hundreds  of 
times  as  it  is  in  the  photoplay  which  is  per- 
formed just  once.  I  am  not,  of  course,  tak- 
ing rehearsals  into  account. 

You  can  just  imagine  the  effect  were  you 
to  see  a  one  reel  play  in  which  Earle  Williams 
was  the  hero  through  some  of  the  scenes, 

9 


io         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

while  Maurice  Costello  deputised  for  the  re- 
mainder. Thus,  you  see,  what  a  farce  the  sit- 
uation would  develop  into. 

Well,  supposing,  a  director  has  started 
work  on  a  multiple  reel  subject  in  which,  for 
instance,  Mary  Fuller  is  starred.  What 
would  the  director  do  were  our  idol  to  be 
prevented  from  playing  for  some  unaccount- 
able reason,  you  will  ask? 

That  director  would  have  to  make  the  best 
of  the  bad  job,  or  in  other  words  he  would 
be  obliged  to  wait  until  Miss  Fuller  was  dis- 
posed again  before  proceeding  with  the  play. 
In  the  meantime  he  would  borrow  a  heroine 
from  another  director  or  else  he  would  use 
his  character  or  emotional  lead  in  her  place. 
If  both  of  these  two  expedients  failed  he 
would  get  plays  to  fit  in  with  the  talents  of 
iiis  remaining  players. 

But  the  leading  photoplayers — the  heroines 
mostly — do  have  what  is  known  as  a  sub- 
stitute to  perform  the  thrilling  stunts,  which, 
deemed  too  dangerous  for  the  leads,  are  en- 
trusted to  some  dare  devil  man,  who  is  made 
up  to  pass  muster  from  a  distance. 

You  can't  detect  the  deception  because  he 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  n 

generally  has  his  back  towards  the  camera,  or 
is  so  far  in  the  background  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  notice  the  difference. 


CHAPTER  III 

EYESIGHT    DAMAGE    CAUSED    THROUGH    THE 
MOTION  PICTURE  ARCS 

THE  present  method  of  producing  motion 
pictures  opens  up  a  new  and  serious 
problem.  Much  has  been  written  and  said 
in  regard  to  the  effects  of  the  photoplayer's 
work  on  health,  but  in  every  case  the  one 
harmful  effect  has  been  overlooked. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  deny  that  most  ex- 
teriors are  taken  against  nature's  backgrounds 
with  daylight  as  the  perfectly  natural  illumi- 
nation— that  would  be  foolish,  for  such  is 
the  fact.  But  nine  plays  out  of  every  ten 
contain  a  number  of  interior  scenes  which 
have  perforce  to  be  put  on  in  an  artifically 
lighted  studio  in  broad  daylight. 

Banks  of  long  powerful  mercury  tubes  line 

the  sets  in  which  the  players  have  to  act.     Go 

where  you  may,   you  will  find   few,   if  any, 

photographic  operations  that  require  so  much 

12 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  13 

light  as  do  motion  pictures.  It  is  well  to  re- 
member that  all  this  extremely  brilliant  streak 
of  light  is  concentrated  over  a  limited  area 
of  a  few  feet,  and  when  the  player  is  before 
the  camera  he  receives  it  full  in  the  eyes.  His 
face  looks  like  a  huckleberry  pie  and  the 
heat  is  almost  unbearable. 

I  have  known  what  it  is  to  step  under  the 
glow  of  one  modest  arc  lamp  for  an  instant; 
it  affects  the  eyes  so  much  that  you  want  in- 
stant relief;  and  you  hold  your  hands  up  to 
your  eyes  when  you  go  back  to  a  less  power- 
ful light.  When  you  realise  that  the  photo- 
player,  save  for  brief  intervals,  is  compelled 
by  the  nature  of  his  work  to  work  for  hours 
under  dozens  of  such  lights,  then  you  can  ap- 
preciate the  strain  on  his  eyes. 

Only  the  other  week  Muriel  Ostriche  had 
been  working  under  such  conditions  from 
early  in  the  morning  until  late  at  night  in  or- 
der to  complete  a  certain  production  on  time. 
All  of  a  sudden  she  found  herself  struck  blind. 
She  was  speedily  taken  home  and  put  in 
charge  of  a  trained  optician.  At  first  it  was 
feared  that  the  affliction  would  be  permanent, 
but  twelve  hours  later  she  had  recovered  her 


i4         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

sight.  And  she  went  back  to  work  without 
a  rest. 

This  is  not  the  only  case  that  has  come 
under  my  notice,  for  I  well  remember,  a  few 
years  ago,  that  a  prominent  movie  actor  had 
to  have  an  operation  performed  on  his  eyes 
and  take  a  lengthy  vacation.  I  have  also  per- 
sonally met  some  photoplayers  on  whom  I 
detected  at  a  glance  the  malady  of  their  pro- 
fession. The  face  round  the  eyes  is  all 
drawn  up  and  the  actor  experiences  consider- 
able difficulty  in  looking  at  you  while  talking 
without  continually  blinking  or  shifting  his 
eyes.  Sometimes  a  player  will  betray  the 
blinking  in  his  work. 

Out  in  California,  however,  the  climate  is 
so  perfect  that  many  of  the  producing  con- 
cerns have  open  air  stages  on  which  they  stage 
interiors  with  only  the  sky  as  the  roof.  This 
not  only  saves  the  expense  of  having  to  re- 
sort to  artificial  light  but  also  protects  the 
actors  from  injury.  But  even  here  for  emer- 
gencies— particularly  during  the  rainy  season 
— an  artificially  lighted  studio  is  at  their  com- 
mand. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DO  THE   PLAYERS   DRINK   INTOXICANTS   IN 
MOTION  PICTURES? 

MOTION  picture  producers  have  to  do 
many  unpleasant  things  in  the  cause  of 
''atmosphere."  Everything  in  a  photoplay 
is  supposed  to  be  true  to  life  and  they  strive 
to  maintain  this  ideal  as  far  as  they  possibly 
can. 

As  they  deal  with  all  phases  of  life,  saloon 
and  restaurant  scenes  as  well  as  examples  of 
secret  drinking  have  to  be  included. 

Mr.  L.  R.  Horton,  of  the  Anti-Saloon 
League  of  the  State  of  Washington,  recently 
wrote  a  circular  letter  to  all  the  motion  pic- 
ture companies,  in  the  course  of  which  he  put 
forth  the  following  query:  "In  your  many 
drinking  scenes,  do  the  actors  drink  intoxicat- 
ing liquor,  or  do  they  use  a  nonalcoholic  sub- 
stitute?" 

Particularly    satisfactory    are    the    replies 

15 


1 6         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

from  the  Selig  and  Edison  Companies. 
They  make  it  a  strict  rule  that  their  players 
in  drinking  scenes  shall  use  only  ginger  ale 
or  sarsaparilla.  Moreover,  no  matter  how 
realistic  the  scene  may  have  to  be  nothing 
stronger  than  these  soft  drinks  is  used.  As 
they  aptly  point  out,  to  let  their  players  drink 
intoxicants  would  surely  prevent  them  from 
working  for  hours,  or  even  days,  afterwards. 
The  exacting  nature  of  their  work  demands 
that  they  keep  in  a  fit  condition  all  the  time. 

On  the  other  hand  the  New  York  Motion 
Picture  Company,  whose  productions  are  re- 
leased under  the  Kay  Bee,  Domino,  Broncho 
and  Keystone  trademarks,  through  Tom 
Ince,  their  director-in-chief,  insist  that  their 
players  drink  liquor  when  a  play  calls  for  it. 
But  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  he  trusts  them 
so  much  that  he  knows  they  will  not  abuse 
the  necessity  laid  upon  them. 

When  he  put  on  a  cafe  scene  in  "The  Re- 
ward" recently,  he  had  six  dozen  quarts 
of  imported  champagne  displayed.  There 
were,  however,  so  many  diners  in  the  scene, 
and  each  was  so  moderate  and  sensible,  that 
little  harm  was  done.     It  is  extremely  hard 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  17 

for  a  motion  picture  player  to  express  the  ex- 
hilarating effect  produced  by  champagne  un- 
less he  has  actually  partaken  of  some,  so  the 
situation  was  produced  as  described. 

In  producing  "The  Alien,"  featuring 
George  Beban,  the  players  had  to  drink  lib- 
eral quantities  of  beer  in  one  scene.  First  the 
glasses  were  laid  on  the  table  by  the  property 
man  and  then  filled  with  ginger  ale.  At  the 
top  of  each  glass  he  poured  a  layer  of  soap 
suds  so  that  it  would  pass  muster  as  the  real 
thing.  But  when  Mr.  Ince  surveyed  his  do- 
ings, he  indignantly  told  him  to  take  the  stuff 
away  and  procure  a  keg  of  beer.  The  scene 
was  delayed  half  an  hour  while  the  beer  was 
obtained  from  Santa  Monica  on  a  racing  car. 

Once,  however,  Ince  has  been  known  to 
discard  his  ironclad  principles.  That  was 
when  a  film  demanded  that  a  band  of  hardy 
mountaineers  drink  whisky  as  a  normal  man 
does  water.  He  didn't  want  to  take  a  chance 
on  the  picture  being  delayed  while  the  ac- 
tors recovered,  so  he  had  ginger  ale  intro- 
duced. 

The  players  attached  to  the  other  film  pro- 
ducing concerns,  in  order  to  reproduce  alcho- 


1 8  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

holic  excitement  realistically,  haunt  saloons 
and  restaurants,  where  they  are  able  to  study 
different  types  of  it.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
best  and  least  offensive  way. 


CHAPTER  V 

THOSE    TROUBLESOME    CHILD    PLAYERS 

CHILDREN  comprise  a  proportion  of 
the  audiences  at  the  motion  picture 
theaters  and  it  is  only  fair  that  plays  should  be 
specially  produced  for  them.  Several  of  the 
film  companies  have  stock  companies  compris- 
ing children.  Although  these  are  competent 
to  act  they  cannot  do  so  effectively  unless  un- 
der the  charge  of  a  grown  up  director. 

Speak  to  the  average  director  on  the  sub- 
ject and  he  will  tell  you  that  he  would  rather 
put  on  the  hardest  subject  he  has  ever  tackled 
rather  than  attempt  to  direct  a  troupe  of  chil- 
dren.    And  there's  a  reason! 

Temperamental  to  a  degree,  the  youngsters 
have  to  be  coaxed  and  bribed  with  such  peace 
offerings  as  candy,  to  carry  out  his  instruc- 
tions. These  rewards  for  good  work  help  a 
little,  but  not  to  the  extent  he  would  like. 

The  other  day  I  heard  that  two  little  girls 
played  in  the  same  production.     One  whom 

19 


20         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

we  will  call  Alice  had  to  pretend  to  be  the 
child  of  a  wealthy  family.  Her  comrade 
whom  we  will  call  Hazel  was  forced  to  be  a 
child  of  the  tenements  and  wear  rags  for 
clothes.  When  Hazel  saw  Alice  in  such 
lovely  toggery  she  sulked  and  refused  to  act 
with  Alice  unless  she  could  wear  an  equally 
attractive  costume.  The  director  could  not 
grant  what  she  wished,  so  Hazel  left  the 
studio  crying  and  the  director  had  to  get  an- 
other child  to  take  her  place. 

The  director  instructs  his  tender  charges 
somewhat  in  this  manner:  "Look  here, 
Billy,  in  this  game  your  playmate  is  going  to 
cheat  you  and  you  find  him  out.  As  he  will 
not  own  up  to  it,  you  prepare  to  fight  him,  but 
he  runs  away  like  the  coward  he  is." 

Motion  picture  acting  does  not  offer  an  ex- 
cuse for  the  children  playing  hookey,  for  they 
act  out  of  school  hours. 

Most  of  the  child  players  obtain  their  posi- 
tions through  influence.  The  Costello  chil- 
dren, for  instance,  can  play  the  game  of  make 
believe  as  well  as  can  their  fond  papa,  Mau- 
rice Costello,  and  they  never  make  him  angry 
by  looking  at  the  camera. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         21 

Leland  Benham,  who  is  often  seen  in  Than- 
houser  Pictures  in  company  with  both  of  his 
parents,  Harry  Benham  and  Ethel  Cooke 
Benham,  can  well  be  proud  of  himself.  He 
loves  nothing  better  than  acting  in  their 
company,  for  a  photoplay  sometimes  allows 
him  to  play  jokes  on  them. 

Kathie  Fischer,  that  dainty  little  girl  who 
used  to  come  on  the  screen  when  a  Beauty  film 
was  shown,  nearly  always  has  Marguerite 
Fischer  as  a  companion.  She  is  Kathie's 
aunt,  and  they  both  get  a  lot  of  fun  out  of 
playing  together. 

If  you  were  to  ask  Bobby  Connelly  what  he 
best  liked  doing  in  photoplays,  he  would  de- 
clare he  best  liked  being  sick  or  ill.  For  a 
healthy  boy  such  as  he  is  this  is  a  strange 
choice,  as  you  will  agree.  He  also  likes  hav- 
ing to  cry.  When  he  has  to  weep  his  mother 
tells  him  a  very  sad  story  which  impresses  him 
so  much  that  tears  roll  down  his  cheeks.  Af- 
ter that  he  is  put  in  the  scene  and  allowed  to 
cry  himself  out. 

You  might  believe  that  Bobby  thinks  about 
motion  pictures  all  the  livelong  day.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  his  beauty  sleep  is  not  spoiled, 


22  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

for  he  forgets  his  acting  when  his  work  in  one 
film  for  the  day  is  over. 

All  the  child  stars  receive  quantities  of  mail 
from  their  youthful  admirers,  but  what  they 
do  not  like  are  letters  of  the  kind  that  begin 
with  "Dearie"  and  are  full  of  silly  gush. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HIRING   PLAYERS    FREE    FOR   THE    MOVIES 

IF  you  happened  to  be  an  employer, 
wouldn't  you  be  in  the  seventh  heaven  of 
delight  if  you  could  hire  labor  without  having 
to  pay  for  it?  It  cannot  be  done  in  real  life, 
but  the  motion  picture  producer,  who  thrives 
on  reel  life,  has  acquired  the  knack  of  obtain- 
ing players  free.  Not  feasible,  you  may  say. 
Just  wait,  however,  until  I  have  cited  a  few 
cases  which  have  come  under  my  personal  no- 
tice and  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me. 

One  of  my  English  friends  engaged  in  the 
film  industry  was  recently  invited  to  attend  the 
opening  of  the  Regent  film  studio  in  London. 
Noting  on  the  invitation  card  that  a  ball  was 
going  to  be  held  in  connection  with  the  open- 
ing, he  dressed  for  the  occasion. 

The  preliminary  ceremonies  were  soon  over 
and  all  made  a  beeline  for  the  portion  of  the 
studio  set  apart  as  a  ballroom.     The  dancing 

23 


24         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

proceeded  with  a  nice  spring,  but  all  the  merry 
couples  were  interrupted  by  a  business-like 
operator  and  a  smiling  director,  who  asked  all 
present  if  they  would  mind  imparting  the 
necessary  realism  to  the  drawing  room  scenes 
of  a  society  drama.  No  one,  of  course,  was 
impolite  enough  to  object,  so  the  camera 
clicked  away  to  their  actions  for  the  rest  of  the 
evening.  This  was  combining  business  with 
pleasure  with  a  vengeance. 

At  the  time  the  Imp  production  of  "Ivan- 
hoe"  was  put  on  at  Chepstow  Castle,  Wales, 
newspapermen  were  invited  to  witness  its  pro- 
duction. The  director,  Herbert  Brenon,  was 
short  of  extras  to  fight  in  the  Norman  Army, 
so  it  occurred  to  him  to  have  some  of  the  re- 
porters don  armour  and  sword.  After  do- 
ing this  they  were  able  to  turn  out  some  unusu- 
ally interesting  copy  of  their  experiences. 

Coming  closer  home,  I  am  told  that  the 
Edison  Company  but  a  short  time  ago  had 
occasion  to  conduct  filming  operations  in  New 
York's  Chinatown.  The  director  could  have 
hired  a  few  supers  at  five  dollars  a  day  and 
fixed  them  up  as  passable  celestials,  but  he  was 
on  the  trail  of  realism. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  25 

The  superstitious  Chinaman  imagines  all 
sorts  of  things  are  going  to  occur  if  he  is 
caught  by  a  camera  of  any  kind,  so  it  is  like 
asking  him  to  kill  himself  to  persuade  him  to 
pose  before  one. 

A  way  out  of  the  difficulty  was  discovered 
by  hiring  a  wagon  and  filling  it  with  dummy 
merchandise.  While  the  driver  stopped  to 
make  an  apparent  delivery,  the  camera  man 
poked  the  lens  of  the  motion  picture  machine 
through  a  hole  in  the  wagon  and  snapped  the 
.yellow  skinned  men  who  were  within  range  of 
it. 

When  the  Lubin  Company  had  to  represent 
a  scenario  editor's  room  in  a  photoplay,  in- 
stead of  employing  ordinary  extras  they  com- 
manded the  services  of  all  the  men  who  write 
plays  appearing  under  the  Liberty  Bell  brand. 
Apart  from  the  advantage  of  expense  saved, 
there  was  that  of  realism  gained;  there  could 
be  no  loophole  for  criticism  against  the  actions 
of  the  pro  tern  actors. 

The  Kalem  Company  took  advantage  of  a 
Motion  Picture  Exposition  held  in  New  York 
City  by  arranging  for  exhibitors  to  visit  their 
plant  out  in  New  Jersey.     When  they  were 


26         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

shown  over  they  were  asked  to  "dress  in"  a 
post  election  scene  in  a  political  drama. 

The  director,  however,  is  not  always  suc- 
cessful. Especially  is  this  the  case  when  he 
wants  prominent  persons  to  pose  before  the 
clicking  camera. 

The  Edison  Company  furnished  an  ex- 
ample of  this  when  they  despatched  a  troupe 
of  players  to  Washington  recently.  A  pov- 
erty-stricken girl  approached  Bryan  in  a  plead- 
ing manner  as  he  was  leaving  one  of  the  gov- 
ernment buildings.  She  began  unfolding  a 
tale  of  woe,  but  instead  of  listening  kindly, 
Bryan  thrust  her  aside  and  walked  indignantly 
to  his  automobile.  The  reason  for  his  atti- 
tude was  that  he  had  caught  sight  of  the 
camera. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MOVIE    STARS    WHO    RISK    THEIR    LIVES    FOR 

REALISTIC    FILMS 

MOVIE  stars  do  not  carry  on  their  work 
without  great  risk  of  personal  injury, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  called  upon  to  do  all 
sorts  of  seemingly  impossible  feats,  so  that 
sensational  incidents  may  be  produced  for  the 
entertainment  of  movie  fans. 

Take  for  instance,  Mary  Fuller,  Univers- 
al's  charming  heroine.  Some  time  ago  she 
had  to  ride  a  horse — not  on  the  tame  stable 
variety,  but  a  real  bucking  broncho  hired  from 
a  circus  in  order  to  obtain  the  right  effect  for 
a  picture.  The  animal  raced  away  at  full 
speed;  then  it  suddenly  stopped — a  habit  with 
bronchos.  Miss  Fuller  escaped  with  only  a 
sprained  back. 

RISKY   RIDE    OVER   A   WEIR 

Marc  McDermott,  of  Edison,  well  recol- 
lects the  time  when  he  was  acting  in  England. 

27 


28  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

While  playing  in  "The  Young  Squire's  Love 
Story,"  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  near 
Wallingford,  he  was  set  off  to  be  carried  over 
a  weir  with  the  river  flooded.  Naturally,  he 
was  safeguarded  by  men  stationed  on  the 
bank,  out  of  the  camera's  focus  and  well 
equipped  with  ropes  and  lines,  to  rescue  him 
should  an  accident  occur.  The  accident  did 
occur.  McDermott  was  swept  over  the 
fall;  it  seemed  to  him  quite  as  great  as  Ni- 
agara— so  he  said  afterward.  For  with  him, 
a  strong  and  experienced  swimmer,  there  was 
an  afterwards. 

JUMP    FROM   A    GALLOPING    HORSE 

Then  there  is  Miss  Blanche  Sweet,  now 
with  the  Lasky  Company.  One  daring  deed 
she  undertook  occurred  in  a  film  where  she 
had  to  be  transferred  from  the  saddle  of  one 
galloping  horse  to  that  of  another.  This 
feat  Miss  Sweet  completed  successfully,  but 
not  without  suffering  many  bruises  and  a 
sprained  wrist. 

At  another  time  she  drove  a  large  pair- 
horse  prairie  schooner  over  some  of  the 
roughest   country   there   is   to  be    found   in 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         29 

America.  When  the  ride  was  at  an  end  the 
palms  of  her  hands  were  one  mass  of  cuts,  on 
account  of  the  rough  reins  and  the  strong  pull- 
ing of  the  horses. 

CHASED   IN   REALITY 

Another  popular  player  is  Henry  Walthall. 
On  one  occasion  he  participated  in  a  produc- 
tion made  up  as  a  sneak-thief,  when  he  was 
called  upon  to  smash  the  window  of  a  real 
jeweller's  and  dash  off  with  a  handful  of  rings. 
The  street  selected  was  a  quiet  one,  and  the 
director  gathered  together  a  throng  of  specta- 
tors amongst  his  supers.  However,  as  soon 
as  the  window  was  broken  and  the  cry  of 
"Stop  thief"  had  been  raised  amongst  the 
spectators,  it  attracted  people  to  the  scene. 
Down  the  street  ran  Henry  Walthall,  with  a 
mob  of  about  fifty  pursuing  him,  not  thinking, 
of  course,  that  this  was  a  pre-arranged 
robbery.  When  thoroughly  run  out,  Mr. 
Walthall  found  himself  surrounded  by  an 
angry  crowd,  which  had  now  increased  to  a 
hundred.  Luckily  the  timely  advent  of  the 
persuasive  director  saved  the  awkward  situa- 
tion. 


3o  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

PERILOUS    POSITION    ON   ROCKS 

On  one  occasion  Miss  Mabel  Normand, 
Keystone's  pretty  comedienne,  was  nearly  the 
victim  of  a  tragedy.  It  took  place  while  she 
was  working  in  a  scene  on  the  beach.  Miss 
Normand,  as  the  heroine,  was  lashed  securely 
to  a  rock  which  jutted  out,  the  ocean  waves 
touching  her.  As  the  actual  filming  of  the 
scene  was  being  proceeded  with  a  huge 
breaker  rolled  in,  causing  the  actress  to  be 
swept  away  among  the  rocks  on  the  beach. 
Miss  Normand  was  bruised  and  unconscious 
when  rescued  from  her  perilous  position. 

BRONCHO   BILLY'S   NEAR  GO 

It  was  on  the  brink  of  a  yawning  chasm  that 
Broncho  Billy,  of  Essanay  fame,  fought  a 
hand-to-hand  encounter  with  Frederick 
Church,  the  villain,  in  a  Western  production. 
The  play  called  for  a  swift  break  while  both 
were  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  where  they 
spring  aside  for  a  breather  and  then  grapple 
with  each  other  again.  G.  M.  Anderson, 
with  his  back  to  the  chasm,  gave  the  signal 
for  the   rest  spell.     As  the  players   sprang 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         31 

aside,  Church  was  horrified  to  witness  our 
hero  stumble,  fall  heavily,  and  disappear 
over  the  precipice.  With  his  body  spread 
out,  Church  peeped  over  the  edge  and  was 
relieved  to  find  Broncho  Billy,  as  large  as 
life,  hanging  from  the  branch  of  a  projecting 
tree  stump.  A  rope  was  promptly  secured, 
and  Broncho  Billy  quickly  removed  to  safety. 
He  was  in  an  exhausted  condition,  his  hands 
being  cut  all  over.  The  Essanay  "star"  con- 
fesses that  it  was  the  narrowest  escape  of  his 
life. 

MISTAKEN    FOR   SUFFRAGETTES 

Suffragettes  do  not  find  things  exactly  to 
their  liking  in  America.  Two  former 
Kalemites,  Miss  Ruth  Roland  and  Miss 
Marian  Sais,  figured  prominently  in  a  Kalem 
drama  sometime  ago.  In  accordance  with 
their  parts,  these  two  players  were  attired  in 
men's  clothes.  When  they  appeared  in  the 
open  street  in  these  "togs"  they  created  quite 
a  sensation.  "They're  going  to  break  win- 
dows," called  out  one  spectator.  "Duck 
'em,"  shouted  another.  As  the  situation  was 
getting  critical,  the  two  players  ran  for  all 


32  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

they  were  worth — so  did  the  others.  Out 
came  Ruth's  property  pistol,  and  with  the  as- 
sistance of  Marian  the  fusillade  was  main- 
tained and  the  pursuers  held  off  until  both 
reached  the  Kalem  studio.  It  is  likely  that 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Californian  town  used 
discretion  after  this  mistake. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MOTION    PICTURE    MAKING    TOWNS    AND 

ESTATES 

LIKE  most  big  business  undertakings  of 
the  present  day,  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry sprang  up  in  an  unobstrusive  man- 
ner and  was  heralded  with  no  clashing  of 
arms  or  blowing  of  trumpets.  It  seemed  to 
want  to  bloom  and  blush  unseen  in  the  ap- 
proved manner  of  a  rose,  with  this  difference, 
however,  that  the  producers  were  undoubt- 
edly truly  ashamed  of  their  unpretentious 
start.  Any  old  building  was  hired  as  a 
studio  and  the  concerns  began  producing  in  a 
haphazard  fashion  with  nothing  regular 
about  their  plant  or  the  personnel  of  their 
staff. 

Considering  the  extreme  crudeness  of 
their  attempts  it  was  remarkable  that  motion 
pictures  leaped  into  instant  popularity,  which 
grew  and  grew  as  each  month  passed.     Then 

33 


34         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

the  time  came  when  the  producers  decided 
they  must  move  with  the  times  and  this  was 
how  pretentious  studios  and  regular  stock 
companies  came  into  being. 

Not  so  long  after  the  big  producers  found 
that  they  had  outgrown  even  this  advance 
and  then  motion-picture-making  cities  and 
estates  were  created  to  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion. 

Up  to  that  time  the  producers  had  given 
little  evidence  that  they  were  everyday 
business  men,  and  people  throughout  the 
country  had  begun  to  imagine  that  they  were 
literally  swimming  in  money.  This  meant 
that  when  a  producer  desired  the  use  of  some 
certain  desirable  location  for  a  photoplay,  a 
fabulous  sum  was  demanded  for  the  neces- 
sary privilege.  Then  when  a  producer 
wanted  to  burn  down  a  house  or  produce 
some  other  such  spectacular  effect  for  a  pic- 
ture, owners  greatly  overvalued  their  prop- 
erty. Again,  when  the  costumes,  furniture 
and  other  things  in  the  way  of  props  were 
hired  for  some  film,  the  charges  were  con- 
siderably in  excess  of  the  ordinary  fees. 

Aside   from  this,   the  cost  of  production 


Photo   by    Universal   Mfg.    Co. 

King   Baggot,    Imp    Star,    Making    Up 


P'utc    by'  'Vb-'ld  Pilm    Corporation. 

This    Director   Prefers   to    Use   a   Mscafhone 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         35 

was  increasing  rapidly,  for  big  salaries  had 
to  be  paid  to  the  leading  players  and  more 
money  and  pains  expended  on  properties. 
Ruin  stared  the  motion  picture  companies  in 
the  face,  so  there  was  nothing  more  natural 
for  them  to  do  than  to  re-organise  along  ap- 
proved business  lines.  But  there  are  real 
disadvantages  in  the  scheme  of  motion  picture 
estates  which  they  adopted. 

In  the  first  place  a  film  estate  for  the  taking 
of  natural  backgrounds  produces  a  sameness 
in  the  films  sent  out  from  one  studio.  After 
much  use  of  the  estate,  all  the  backgrounds 
will  have  been  given  over  and  over  again. 
And  nothing  annoys  a  photoplay  patron  so 
much  as  to  come  across  a  rural  setting  he 
remembers  having  seen  in  a  previous  produc- 
tion. It  detracts  from  the  element  of  real- 
ism, the  vital  attraction  of  the  silent  drama. 
The  same  trouble  occasionally  occurs  in  a 
single  production,  the  producer  either  hav- 
ing failed  to  utilise  the  variety  of  settings 
at  his  disposal  or  else,  lacking  variety,  hav- 
ing had  to  introduce  the  same  scenes  a  num- 
ber of  times. 

Again,  not  only  does  the  picture  estate  re- 


36         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

suit  in  a  loss  of  realism,  but  also  in  the  loss  of 
truth. 

Your  average  American  motion  picture 
producing  concern  sells  its  films  in  practically 
all  quarters  of  the  globe  and  it  is  therefore  to 
its  financial  advantage  to  produce  photoplays 
portraying  life  in  other  countries.  How 
can  the  director,  then,  put  on,  for  instance,  a 
story  of  medieval  France  out  in  modern  Cali- 
fornia? Where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a 
way,  as  the  adage  goes,  so  the  stage  carpen- 
ters erect  a  castle  and  gabled  buildings  and 
lay  down  a  cobble  stone  street.  These  are 
built  and  laid  so  substantially  that  the  fiercest 
wind  would  not  make  them  turn  a  hair,  so  to 
speak.  Then  if  an  actor  feels  inclined  to 
lean  against  one  of  the  structures  it  will  not 
bend  or  give  way.  The  director  may  also 
wish  to  stage  a  street  in  Cairo,  so  he  resorts 
to  the  same  plan. 

Disadvantageous  as  this  is,  it  is  not,  how- 
ever, so  painfully  artificial  as  a  few  painted 
sets  of  scenery  at  the  legitimate  theater,  for 
the  illusion  is  so  perfect  when  seen  on  the 
screen  that  it  passes  muster  without  adverse 
criticism.     These  picture  making  towns  are 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         37 

so  well  laid  out  that  any  portion  can  serve 
practically  any  purpose  under  the  sun.  All 
this  saves  the  producer  considerable  time  and 
money  in  not  having  to  despatch  a  troupe  of 
players  abroad  in  the  elusive  quest  of  atmos- 
phere. 

There  are,  at  the  present  time,  five  such 
producing  plants  in  America.  In  California, 
there  are  Universal  City,  the  Selig  Wild  Ani- 
mal Park,  Horsley  Zoo,  and  Inceville,  and  in 
Pennsylvania,  Lubinville.  In  Europe  there 
are  several  plants  of  a  similar  nature. 


CHAPTER  IX 

UTILISING   COUNTRY   ESTATES    FOR 
MOTION    PICTURE    PLAYS 

ALL  is  grist  that  comes  to  the  mill  of  the 
motion  picture  producer.  One  week 
he  may  put  on  a  play  of  life  in  a  city  tene- 
ment. That  does  not  present  any  difficulty. 
But  a  week  later  his  next  story  will  probably 
deal  with  persons  in  high  society  and  then  he 
is  confronted  with  a  much  harder  task. 

If  he  has  been  in  the  locality  for  any 
length  of  time  he  will  have  compiled  a  list 
of  the  imposing  estates  in  the  neighbourhood, 
for  he  can  hardly  adopt  the  makeshift 
method  of  the  theatrical  producer  and  con- 
fine his  natural  backgrounds  to  painted  can- 
vas. He  must,  therefore,  approach  the 
owner  of  the  residence  which  strikes  him  as 
ideal  for  the  necessary  permission.  But  this 
is  not  so  easy  to  obtain  as  one  might  expect. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  present  great  in- 

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MAKING  THE  MOVIES         39 

dustry  many  people  had  a  deep  rooted  preju- 
dice against  motion  pictures  and  imagined  it 
to  be  beneath  their  dignity  to  consent  to  have 
their  property  utilised  for  motion  picture 
purposes.  That  the  producer  then  did  not 
do  justice  to  his  subjects  is  painfully  true,  but 
this  cannot  be  used  in  evidence  against  him 
to-day  when  he  is  making  continued  progress. 

Granted  that  permission  is  obtained,  the 
actors  may  make  a  pretence  of  going  inside 
a  mansion.  But  note  that  the  elaborate 
drawing  room  scene  that  next  meets  your 
gaze  is  taken  at  some  other  time  in  the 
studio,  where  it  has  been  erected  and  dressed 
with  extreme  care  in  every  detail  by  a  real 
decorative  artist. 

The  size  of  the  photoplay  stage  is  six  feet 
from  one  side  to  the  other  and  the  player  who 
moves  beyond  this  gets  out  of  focus.  From 
this  information  you  will  appreciate  the  skill 
of  the  producer  who  puts  on  an  elaborate 
ballroom  scene  in  a  realistic  manner. 

Although  the  vision  of  the  camera  is 
limited,  immediately  in  front  of  the  lens,  to  a 
field  of  six  feet  in  extent  to  right  and  left  of 
the  lens,  its  field  of  vision  can  be  made  to  be 


4o         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

many  times  this  width  and  breadth  as  the 
depth  increases.  In  this  way  rooms  of  im- 
mense size  are  represented.  If  a  director 
were  to  attempt  to  show  portions  of  action 
that  take  place  in  a  corner  of  the  room  in  the 
one  big  scene  they  would  not  be  understood  at 
all.  So  he  introduces  some  "close  up"  views. 
Then  if  he  wants  to  emphasise  the  fact  that 
the  room  is  as  wide  as  it  is  long  he  pano- 
rams  the  player  while  he  or  she  walks  from 
one  side  to  the  other. 

For  every  motion  picture  company  that  de- 
spatches a  troupe  of  players  in  search  of  the 
elusive  atmosphere,  nine  stay  at  home  and 
make  use  of  the  facilities  at  their  disposal. 
In  California,  for  instance,  there  are  many 
types  of  architecture  and  the  director  can  ob- 
tain practically  everything  to  fulfill  his  re- 
quirements, with  the  possible  exception  of  a 
Swiss  chalet. 

About  two  years  ago  the  movies  were  em- 
ployed under  false  pretenses.  It  happened 
in  this  way.  A  film  company  called  upon  a 
wealthy  banker  and  asked  if  he  would  be  so 
kind  as  to  permit  the  free  use  of  his  country 
estate.     He  willingly  consented,  and  on  leav- 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         41 

ing  his  residence  to  keep  an  engagement,  he 
instructed  the  patrolman  to  take  no  notice  of 
anything  unusual  that  might  occur. 

A  few  minutes  later  when  the  burglar  left 
by  the  window  in  the  approved  manner  with 
a  bag  of  swag,  the  watchman  looked  on  un- 
concernedly, for  did  not  the  presence  of  the 
camera  tell  him  that  it  was  only  for  the 
movies?  Besides,  he  had  been  prepared  for 
the  unexpected. 

When  the  banker  returned  home,  however, 
he  came  in  for  a  revelation,  all  his  silver  plate 
and  other  valuables  having  been  stolen. 
After  investigating,  he  found  out  that  the 
credential  bearing  the  name  of  a  reputable 
producing  concern  was  a  fake. 

In  too  many  cases  at  the  present  time  the 
director  cannot  obtain  the  necessary  privilege 
unless  he  pays  five  dollars  or  more,  accord- 
ing to  the  value  placed  upon  the  property  by 
the  owner.  The  terms  demanded  in  some  in- 
stances would  ruin  any  film  company  in  no 
time.  One  of  the  companies — the  Universal 
— has  taken  action  on  this  petty  graft,  as  they 
term  it,  and  in  their  studio  yard  they  now 
possess  the  facilities  to  make  anything  from 


42  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

a  medieval  castle  to  a  modern  millionaire's 
mansion.  Whether  they  find  it  more  effec- 
tive to  do  things  in  this  way  is  rather  a  moot 
point. 

The  Lubin  Company  has  seldom  relied 
upon  outside  assistance,  and  on  the  estate 
where  the  president  and  his  family  reside, 
pleasure  is  combined  with  business.  It  com- 
prises five  hundred  acres  of  the  most  charm- 
ing country  existent  in  Pennsylvania.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  situated  on  historic  ground 
where  Washington  held  the  British  in  check 
during  one  terrible  winter.  No  better  nat- 
ural effects  can  be  found  for  rural  photoplays 
than  there  are  on  this  estate  where  there  is  a 
picturesque  mansion,  a  conservatory,  half  a 
dozen  other  buildings  and  spacious  grounds. 
A  river  runs  through  for  two  miles ;  there  is  a 
duck  pond,  a  deer  park  and  a  railroad  sta- 
tion, the  latter  having  been  specially  erected 
at  a  cost  of  several  thousand  dollars.  Then 
when  a  railroad  or  auto  smash  is  needed  all 
they  have  to  do  is  to  throw  money  away  like 
water.  A  house  can  be  burnt  down;  an 
earthquake  raised,  while  they  can  stage  a  cliff 
fight    effectively     and    produce     "Western" 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         43 

dramas  without  any  one  being  the  wiser  that 
they  were  taken  in  the  East. 

The  motto  of  the  motion  picture  producer 
seems  to  be  summed  up  as  follows :  "If  you 
can't  get  a  thing  one  way,  try  another." 


CHAPTER  X 

HOW   RAILROAD    PHOTOPLAYS   ARE   MADE 

A  GOOD  old  standby  for  the  motion  pic- 
ture director  in  need  of  a  thrilling  or 
suspense-creating  picture  is  the  railroad 
drama.  It  has  performed  yeoman  service 
ever  since  the  movies  came  out  of  their  swad- 
dling clothes,  and  it  is  likely  to  for  much 
longer. 

The  successful  ingredients  for  the  receipt 
of  a  railroad  film  are  these :  Procure  one 
pretty  girl  and  a  handsome  and  brave  young 
man.  Mix  well  with  a  villain  of  the  deepest 
dye,  who  mars  their  happiness.  He  is,  how- 
ever, the  victim  of  a  railroad  accident,  which 
allows  the  inevitable  happy  ending  to  be  pre- 
sented. 

Another  ever  favorite  device  is  to  intro- 
duce the  heroine  as  a  telegraphist  or  some 
clerk  at  a  rural  railroad  depot.  She  is  at- 
tacked by  thieves  who  desire  to  possess  the 

44 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         45 

gold  she  is  so  zealously  guarding.  They  re- 
verse the  signals  to  gain  their  purpose.  In 
some  ingenious  manner  she  informs  her  lover 
of  her  plight  without  her  attackers  being 
aware  of  it.  So  it  is  not  long  before  we  see 
the  hero  dashing  down  the  track  in  the  nick 
of  time  to  prevent  a  collision.  He  either 
waves  a  handkerchief  or  else  he  turns  the 
switch. 

It  will  now  be  interesting  to  cast  a  glance 
behind  the  scenes  just  to  find  out  how  these 
pictures  are  made. 

When  a  film  concern  sets  about  to  produce 
one  or  more  of  such  dramas  they  lease  a  por- 
tion of  the  side  track  of  a  railroad  nearby. 
The  player  cast  to  perform  the  driving  act 
is  instructed  by  a  full  fledged  locomotive  en- 
gineer until  he  or  she — oh,  yes,  the  ladies  are 
not  exempt — has  passably  mastered  the  com- 
plexities of  the  engine.  This  takes,  on  an 
average,  about  two  days. 

After  everything  is  ready  the  director  puts 
the  players  through  their  parts,  when  all  are 
in  for  a  strenuous  time.  In  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  the  camera  has  to  be  stationed  on  the 
engine  for  several  of  the  scenes  so  that  the 


46         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

movie  driver  can  be  shown  at  work  in  the  cab, 
or,  failing  that,  tussling  with  the  villain. 
Both  have  to  be  extremely  careful  that  they 
do  not  overbalance  themselves. 

If  you  were  to  bet  that  they  always  take  the 
interiors  inside  a  genuine  pullman  or  railroad 
office,  then  you  would  lose.  You  see,  there 
is  not  sufficient  light  in  most  of  these  places  to 
give  a  clean  picture,  so  it  is  necessary  to  build 
them  up  in  the  studio. 

But  the  railroad  collision  act  is  a  different 
sort  altogether.  Usually  two  locomotives 
which  have  seen  their  best  days,  and  half  a 
dozen  carriages  are  purchased  outright. 
This  has  been  known  to  cost  a  film  company 
$50,000  for  a  single  occasion.  Needless  to 
say,  such  heavy  outlays  are  reserved  for  the 
big  feature  productions;  and  incidents  for  sev- 
eral of  these  are  obtained  at  the  same  time. 

Everything  is  so  carefully  planned  that 
there  is  little  chance  of  the  unexpected  to  de- 
range things.  The  trains  run  along  a  single 
track,  and  at  the  given  signal,  the  engineers 
open  the  throttles  wide  and  then  jump  from 
their  cabs.  The  trains  now  dash  on  to  de- 
struction.    And,  last  of  all,  comes  the  fatal 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         47 

crash,  which  is  the  most  eventful  moment  for 
the  squad  of  camera  men  who  focus  their  ma- 
chines from  all  points  of  vantage. 

The  scene  then  changes,  allowing  time  for 
the  photoplayers,  wearing  torn  and  dirty 
clothing  and  their  features  made  up,  to 
clamber  into  the  wrecked  carriages.  The 
cameras  again  get  busy  and  the  "dead  and  in- 
jured passengers"  are  lifted  out  by  the  rescu- 
ing party.  The  performance  is  so  interesting 
that  frequently  the  railroad  companies  run 
excursions  to  the  scene  of  the  smash. 

There  are,  however,  motion  picture 
firms,  who,  too  mean  to  do  the  thing  in  proper 
style,  hire  perfectly  good  rolling  stock,  but 
cut  out  the  actual  collision.  At  the  right  mo- 
ment engines  of  the  scrap  iron  variety  are 
substituted  and  placed  together  to  give  the 
smash  effect. 

One  company — the  Kalem — specialises  in 
railroad  dramas,  the  stories  of  which  are 
written  by  a  railroad  man.  Under  this  brand 
a  series  of  single  reel  dramas  entitled  "The 
Hazards  of  Helen"  has  appeared,  featuring 
Helen  Holmes  as  a  girl  telegraphist. 

Europe  seldom  sends  us  a  railroad  picture 


48  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

produced  in  the  thorough  manner  which  char- 
acterises the  American  product.  Some  years 
back  a  fatal  accident  occurred  during,  the  pro- 
ducing of  one  of  these  plays  in  England,  since 
which  time  the  railroad  companies  there  have 
stubbornly  declined  to  co-operate  with  mo- 
tion picture  producers.  It  is  much  the  same 
in  other  European  countries. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PUTTING   THE   THRILLS    INTO    RAILROAD 
MOVIE   DRAMAS 

THE  producing  of  a  railroad  film  drama 
does  not  end  by  the  leasing  of  a  side 
track,  a  brace  of  locomotives  and  six  or  more 
coaches.  Oh,  by  no  means,  let  me  assure 
you !  That  done,  the  task,  in  fact,  has  hardly 
begun,  for  the  director  has  yet  to  put  his 
players  through  the  mill.  And,  believe  me, 
theirs  is  no  enviable  task:  they  must  think 
nothing  of  breaking  their  necks  and  generally 
flirting  with  death.  It  must  be  said,  how- 
ever, in  fairness,  that  all  human  precautions 
are  taken  to  prevent  accidents. 

Probably  the  biggest  railroad  spectacle  in 
the  history  of  motion  pictures  was  staged  in 
the  fall  of  19 14  at  Milltown,  New  Jersey,  on 
a  spur  of  the  Raritan  River  Railroad.  In 
this  case  a  break  from  the  ordinary  rule  was 
made,  the  thrill  being  that  a  train,  made  up 

49 


50         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

of  one  old  locomotive  and  three  coaches, 
should  fall  into  the  water  when  passing  over 
a  trestle  across  a  lake,  on  account  of  the  sup- 
ports giving  way.  This  was  accomplished  by 
erecting  a  trestle  specially  for  the  occasion. 
It  joined  the  main  line  seventy-five  feet  from 
the  shore  and  had  a  sharp  curve  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  feet.  An  expert  took 
charge  of  the  dynamiting  arrangements  and 
everything  was  carefully  timed.  The  engi- 
neer was  told  to  set  the  speed  at  fifteen  miles 
per  hour  before  deserting  the  cab,  so  that  the 
eight  camera  men,  stationed  at  different 
points,  might  get  a  panorama  as  the  train 
made  its  fatal  journey.  If  it  travelled  any 
faster  it  would  blur  on  the  film.  But  the 
engineer  had  evidently  opened  the  throttle 
too  wide,  for  the  train  slid  by  at  double  the 
desired  speed.  The  dynamite  near  the  end 
of  the  trestle  then  exploded,  sending  the  train 
and  the  supports  into  the  water. 

The  front  of  the  engine  came  to  a  stand- 
still within  a  few  feet  of  one  of  the  dare- 
devil operators  who  was  busy  filming  the 
wreck  from  a  small  platform.  Everybody 
present    feared   that   the   locomotive   would 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         51 

knock  the  platform  over  and  despatch  the 
young  man  to  the  icy  depths  below.  Al- 
though he  was  spared  this  fate,  he  was  simply 
deluged  with  sprays  of  water,  sent  up  by  the 
plunging  train.  Yet  this  did  not  deter  him 
from  continuing  to  grind. 

But  this  was  not  all,  for  Mr.  Film  Director 
believes  in  getting  his  money's  worth.  Now 
for  the  grand  finale.  Dynamite  was  placed 
inside  the  engine,  which  floated  on  the  sur- 
face, and  exploded  quite  satisfactorily.  This 
nice  realistic  incident  was  dubbed  a  "boiler 
explosion"  when  seen  on  the  film.  In  the 
wrecked  cars  were  dummies,  and  after  the 
wreck,  the  twenty  or  so  players  who  were  cast 
as  the  passengers  jumped  into  the  lake  from  a 
float.  There  was,  however,  a  genuine  ring 
about  their  cries  for  help  and  attempts  to 
rescue  each  other,  for  the  water  was  very 
chilly  and  they  nearly  all  caught  the  cramps. 
A  skiff  was  immediately  despatched  from  the 
shore  and  eventually  rescued  the  party,  some 
only  in  the  nick  of  time. 

Earle  Williams,  the  Vitagraph  star,  how- 
ever, managed  to  swim  with  the  help  of  a  boy, 
although  several  times  he  seemed  to  be  on  the 


52  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

verge  of  sinking.  He  was  in  an  exhausted 
condition  when  taken  out. 

The  railroad  scenes  for  the  Pathe  produc- 
tion, "The  Taint,"  were  taken  in  New  Jersey 
by  permission  of  the  Wharton  Railroad.  An 
engine  was  purchased  with  the  intention  of 
converting  it  into  scrap  iron  for  the  film. 

The  perilous  task,  the  hero,  Ed  Jose,  had 
before  him  was  to  elude  his  attackers  by  let- 
ting the  engine  rush  at  a  headlong  pace  and 
then  escape  by  jumping  off.  All  went  well 
until  the  siding  hove  in  sight;  then  Ed  leaped 
over  the  embankment.  The  somersaults  he 
made  down  that  steep  bank  would  have  done 
credit  to  a  trained  acrobat.  He  was  all  aches 
and  bruises  afterwards. 

The  camera  was  set  up  just  a  few  feet  from 
the  ditch  where  the  engine  was  to  fall  and 
narrowly  escaped  destruction.  But  luckily 
the  locomotive  ended  its  career  just  a  few 
feet  away,  sending  streams  of  earth  and 
stones  over  the  plucky  operator. 

Who,  then,  will  now  say  that  railroad 
dramas  are  tame  propositions  for  those  who 
make  them? 


CHAPTER  XII 

MAKING   MARINE   DRAMAS    FOR   THE 

MOVIES 

IF  there  is  one  thing  more  than  another 
which  has  a  special  interest  for  the  mo- 
tion picture  producer,  it  is  marine  life  in  all 
its  phases.  What  accounts  for  this  fascina- 
tion? A  study  of  the  movie  screens  will  soon 
reveal  the  answer.  The  film  producer  adores 
thrills  and  water  craft  supply  the  desired  op- 
portunities to  his  complete  satisfaction. 

He  seems,  however,  to  make  a  favorite  of 
no  single  kind  of  craft,  for  he  will  handle 
anything  from  a  raft  to  an  ocean  liner. 
Among  the  feats  he  revels  in  are  these :  acci- 
dental turnover  of  a  rowing  boat,  wreck  of  a 
craft  by  collision,  or  by  wreck  against  an  ice- 
berg or  rocks,  fire  at  sea. 

When  a  scenario  stipulates  that  a  yacht  has 
to  be  set  on  fire  and  a  boiler  explosion  de- 
spatch it  beneath  the  waters,   an  old  craft 

53 


54         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

is  purchased.  After  the  preliminary  deck 
scenes  leading  up  to  the  sensational  situation 
have  been  produced,  the  vessel  is  divested  of 
its  interior  fittings,  for  the  producer  is  not  so 
rash  as  is  commonly  supposed.  The  next 
stage  is  to  saturate  the  ship  with  oil  and  tur- 
pentine and  place  sticks  of  dynamite  in  the 
hold.  It  is  dangerous  work  for  the  men  who 
are  assigned  this  task.  Immediately  their 
work  is  over  they  jump  off  the  yacht  into  the 
sea  and  swim  about  until  picked  up  by  a  motor 
boat  and  taken  to  safety.  Another  example 
of  the  producer's  determination  to  get  full 
value  for  his  outlay  is  given  in  that  he  never 
times  the  dynamite  to  explode  until  the  ship 
has  been  well  burned.  Oftentimes  scenes  are 
also  taken  for  several  productions  at  the  same 
time. 

In  the  Vitagraph  picture,  "My  Official 
Wife,"  it  will  be  remembered  that  an  expen- 
sive yacht  was  blown  up  by  a  torpedo.  Clara 
Kimball  Young,  the  well  known  photoplayer, 
witnessed  this  and  declared  it  was  a  shame 
that  such  a  pretty  boat  should  be  destroyed. 
The  director  informed  her,  jokingly,  that  she 
could  have  it  as  a  gift  if  it  was  of  any  use  to 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         55 

her  after  it  had  got  into  the  clutches  of  Davy 
Jones.  She  decided  to  take  a  sporting  chance 
and  had  a  diver  investigate  the  vessel.  To 
her  joy,  he  reported  that  although  it  appeared 
in  the  picture  that  the  torpedo  split  the  yacht 
in  half,  it  had  only  torn  a  hole  in  the  side. 
Miss  Young  at  once  had  the  yacht  raised  and 
repaired.  It  is  now  a  trustworthy  pleasure 
craft,  in  which  its  fair  owner  takes  many 
trips. 

There  are  occasions  when  a  misfortune 
proves  a  blessing  in  disguise  to  the  maker  of 
movies.  On  hearing  of  a  wreck  along  the 
coast  within  easy  distance  he  will  promptly 
journey  with  his  band  of  players  and  camera 
man,  weaving  a  marine  drama  en  route  and 
getting  all  the  atmosphere  he  requires. 
Neither  is  he  averse  to  the  other  money  sav- 
ing plan  of  cutting  views  from  an  animated 
newspaper. 

There  is  also  a  certain  film  concern,  which, 
unlike  others  in  the  same  business,  apparently 
does  not  believe  in  the  value  of  realism. 
They  show  a  marked  preference  for  the  easy 
and  inexpensive  way  of  framing  up  a  wreck 
in  the  studio,     A  miniature  model  of  a  ship 


56  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

is  placed  on  the  edge  of  a  green  topped  table. 
The  "wreck"  is  produced  by  means  of  an 
electrical  device  and  is  photographed  a  good 
distance  away  from  the  camera.  On  the  next 
line  day  some  sea  scenes  are  produced  on  the 
coast  nearby.  Both  negatives  are  then  cut  in 
two  and  one  section  of  each  used.  The  first 
negative  is  cut  in  half  along  the  line  of  the 
table  top,  which  is  the  "water  line,"  and  the 
real  marine  half  of  the  other  one  matches  it 
exactly.     This  creates  a  perfect  illusion. 

Of  course  when  you  see  water  flooding  the 
cabins  or  hold  or  smoke  and  flames  filling  and 
devouring  them,  with  the  passengers  and  crew 
frantically  trying  to  escape,  you  must  know 
that  these  situations  are  faked  in  the  studio, 
as  they  would  be  too  dangerous  for  the  actors 
if  staged  on  a  real  ship,  let  alone  the  disadvan- 
tage that  the  inferior  light  conditions  would 
not  permit  good  photography. 

In  the  production  of  that  masterpiece,  "At- 
lantis," the  C.  F.  Titgen  (8,137  tons),  of 
the  Scandinavian  American  Line,  was  hired. 
Five  hundred  players  acted  as  the  passengers 
who  fought  for  the  boats;  many  leaped  into 
the   sea,    some   of  whom   were   "drowned." 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         57 

All  the  horrors,  in  fact,  of  such  a  calamity 
were  dragged  in. 

Many  were  the  rehearsals  to  get  the  actors 
to  render  vivid  portrayals.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  G.  F.  Titgen  was  not  sunk  at 
all.  Its  wreck  was  only  cleverly  suggested. 
The  producers  saved  considerable  expense  by 
having  a  wooden  replica  of  the  liner  made 
and  sunk  to  the  bottom. 

The  motion  picture  director  is  also  partial 
to  stories  of  pirate  days.  The  difficulty  the 
director  of  the  Powers  Company  had  when 
about  to  put  on  a  play  of  Billy  Hayes,  the 
noted  pirate  and  smuggler  of  thirty  years  ago, 
was  to  discover  a  suitable  craft.  On  a  trip 
to  San  Pedro  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  hire 
for  a  week  an  antiquated  ship  which  had  been 
confiscated  by  the  government.  On  board 
was  an  old  Norwegian  who  informed  him  that 
the  ship  was  originally  The  Sprite,  a  vessel 
which  had  seen  many  a  bloody  encounter. 
Once  it  had  been  seized  by  Billy  Hayes,  and 
with  it  he  terrorised  Pacific  coast  towns  for 
thirty  years. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HOW    FIRE    FILMS    ARE   TAKEN 

WHEN  a  motion  picture  company  wishes 
to  take  a  fire  picture  all  they  have  to 
do  is  to  pay  for  the  use  of  an  empty  house  for 
an  hour  or  so.  The  owner  of  it  does  not 
mind  so  long  as  they  do  not  burn  the  house 
down  in  grim  reality.  In  order  to  make  the 
film  convincing  it  is  necessary  to  smash  the 
windows  and  break  the  doors  down,  but  the 
producer,  of  course,  pays  for  all  damage 
done.  The  players  and  camera  men  being 
in  readiness,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  property 
man  to  place  a  chemical  preparation  known 
as  "smoke  pots"  inside  the  windows,  and 
cleverly  conceal  them  between  curtains  and 
blinds.  Then  harmless  smoke  begins  to  pour 
out  of  the  house. 

Not  very  far  away  is  a  fire  engine  and  fire- 
men only  waiting  for  their  cue  to  go  into  the 
picture. 

If  there  is  anything  that  attracts  a  crowd  it 

58 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         59 

is  a  fire,  so  the  excited  spectators  are  supplied 
at  no  expense  to  the  firm. 

The  engine,  at  a  given  signal,  races  off  with 
the  volunteer  crowd  in  pursuit  and  soon  ar- 
rives at  the  scene  of  operations. 

There  is  always  plenty  of  door  smashing 
and  window-breaking  by  the  gallant  fire- 
fighters, because  directors  know  only  too  well 
that  we  fans  are  fond  of  excitement.  The 
firemen  use  their  axes,  having  no  regard  as  to 
the  damage  they  do. 

About  this  time  forks  of  flames  appear 
from  the  windows,  while  the  smoke  issues  in 
volumes.  The  smoke  and  flames,  by  the  way, 
emanate  from  the  "smoke  pots"  and  do  no 
damage  at  all. 

The  scenes  that  are  apparently  taken  inside 
the  house,  where  we  see  firemen  staggering 
along  with  human  bodies,  have  probably  been 
filmed  several  days  before  in  the  studio  it- 
self, the  "smoke  pots"  contributing  to  the 
illusion  of  fire. 

Next  we  see  people  being  rescued  from  the 
burning  building,  and  this  is  acted  so  realistic- 
ally that  the  spectators  do  all  the  applauding 
without  being  asked  to. 


60         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

The  human  touch  is  given  to  these  photo- 
plays, so  as  to  gain  the  sympathy  of  those 
watching  as  well  as  picturegoers. 

It  wouldn't  be  right  if  the  heroine  were 
left  to  perish  in  the  flames  and  so  it  falls  to 
the  hero  to  rescue  her.  As  the  hero  evades 
the  firemen  and  dashes  into  the  midst  of  the 
flames  the  crowd  turns  away  in  horror. 

Since  the  fire  has  been  in  progress  water  has 
been  poured  right  and  left  on  the  flames  and 
everything  done  to  make  the  picture  realistic 
and  thrilling.  Eventually  the  heroine  is 
brought  to  safety  and,  as  the  hero  embraces 
her,  the  camera  man  stops  turning  the  handle. 

The  "smoke  pots"  have  done  their  work 
well,  for  the  only  damage  done  to  the  house 
is  the  breaking  of  the  doors  and  windows. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

USING   AUTOS    IN   THE  MOVIES 

THE  automobile  has  become  such  an  im- 
portant factor  in  film  production  to-day 
that  were  the  film  manufacturers  to  be  sud- 
denly deprived  of  their  machines  the  loss  they 
feel  would  be  as  great  as  if  their  "star" 
player  were  to  be  taken  ill. 

Supposing,  for  instance,  you  had  an  invita- 
tion to  visit  the  plants  of  the  motion  picture 
makers.  The  first  thing  that  would  catch 
your  eyes  would  be  the  garage  in  each  studio 
yard.  In  each  one  you  would  find  any  number 
up  to  twenty  autos  of  all  makes  and  ages. 
For  these  cars  the  movie  producers  have  sev- 
eral practical  uses. 

Since  the  one  great  attraction  of  the  movies 
is  its  charming  natural  backgrounds,  the  di- 
rector cannot  undertake  all  his  work  in  the 
studio.  He  and  his  company  have  to  do  a 
good  deal  of  travelling  in  pursuit  of  choice 

61 


62  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

outdoor  scenes  and  he  seldom  knows  from 
one  day  to  another  what  kind  of  settings  will 
be  needed.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  film 
troupe  will  have  to  be  taken  miles  before  the 
right  locations  are  found.  The  trip,  too, 
must  be  done  in  a  hurry,  and  the  auto,  there- 
fore, is  the  quickest  and  most  reliable  way. 

The  very  same  autos  come  in  exceedingly 
handy  when  the  players  have  to  pretend  to 
make  a  journey  in  a  photoplay.  For  pro- 
ducing thrills  they  are  simply  great.  When 
movie  fans  see  the  hero  rushing  in  a  motor 
to  spoil  the  villain's  plans  and  rescue  the 
heroine  they  grip  their  seats  in  tense  specula- 
tion as  to  whether  he  will  arrive  in  time. 

Oftentimes  the  scenario  demands  that  two 
autos  collide  or  that  one  fall  over  a  cliff. 
The  expense  of  these  feats  done  in  proper 
style  is  prohibitive.  There  has  been  a  lot 
of  nonsense  written  as  to  the  extravagance  of 
picture  producers,  but  like  men  in  other  lines 
of  business,  they  do  not  squander  good 
money  rashly  if  they  can  help  it. 

Whenever  you  see  a  motor  car  tumble 
over  the  cliff  in  the  movies,  and  smash 
to  atoms  when  it  reaches  the  bottom,  you  can 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         63 

bet  your  life  on  it  that  the  picture  is  faked. 
What  is  done  is  that  when  the  auto  proceeds 
towards  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  the  camera  stops, 
— and  so  does  the  car,  which  turns  back  and 
exits.  Enter  now  a  wooden  replica  of  the 
auto  you  just  saw,  so  cleverly  constructed  that 
you  would  have  to  look  pretty  closely  to  de- 
tect that  it  was  not  genuine.  These  machines 
are  turned  out  quite  rapidly  and  cheaply  by 
the  carpenters  in  the  employ  of  the  film  con- 
cern. 

Seated  in  the  auto  are  dummies  to  repre- 
sent the  passengers — for  the  players  are  not 
so  dare-devil  as  all  that. 

The  camera  man  now  gets  busy  again  and 
the  director,  out  of  range  of  the  camera, 
gives  the  car  a  push  to  send  it  over  the  cliff. 
At  the  bottom  it  is  revealed  completely 
wrecked,  and  after  another  stop,  the  per- 
formers walk  down  in  the  ordinary  way. 
They  then  make  up  as  though  badly  injured 
and  scramble  out  of  the  debris.  As  none  of 
the  intervals  are  shown  on  the  screen  the  illu- 
sion is  perfect. 


CHAPTER  XV 

UNDERGROUND   WITH   A   MOVIE    CAMERA 

"TT7HAT  next?"  one  might  well  ask 
W  when  referring  to  the  accomplish- 
ments of  movie  photography.  The  ever  en- 
croaching camera  has  been  taken  below  the 
ocean's  depths,  and  just  now  the  problem  of 
taking  pictures  at  night  has  been  overcome. 

There  remains  but  one  more  difficult  place 
— underground.  But  (a  fact  little  known) 
even  this  difficulty  has  not  proved  beyond  the 
capabilities  of  the  astute  film  producer. 

It  was  a  pretty  dangerous  thing  to  equip  a 
coal  mine  with  naked  arc  lamps,  but  Pathe 
Freres  did  this  in  England  some  time  back  for 
a  colliery  picture.  It  might  be  pointed  out, 
however,  that  the  mine  in  question  was  one 
of  the  least  dangerous,  for  it  contained  a  small 
amount  of  coal  and  a  comparatively  great 
amount  of  copper  ore.  But  even  though  the 
volume  of  dangerous  gasses  were  at  a  mini- 

64 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         6s 

mum  it  was  a  pretty  dangerous  task  all  the 
same.  The  film  director  was  given  but  six 
hours  to  accomplish  his  work  and  from  mid- 
night to  six  in  the  morning  he  himself,  the 
players,  and  the  camera  man  worked  like  en- 
gines at  the  bottom  of  the  pit.  Their  efforts 
proved  successful,  but  the  whole  troop  were  as 
black  as  niggers  when  they  came  to  the  sur- 
face. Had  the  Board  of  Trades  learnt  of 
the  thing  beforehand  they  would  certainly 
have  prevented  such  a  risky  undertaking. 

Our  producers  are  no  whit  behind,  for  a 
film  was  taken  at  a  depth  of  5300  feet  below 
the  surface  at  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  Mines, 
Michigan.  At  this  record  depth  artificial 
lighting  equipment  was  installed.  The  results 
were  excellent. 

In  New  York  the  Vitagraph  Company  suc- 
ceeded in  filming  the  McAdoo  tunnels  under 
the  North  River  and  the  Subways  for  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition.  Sufficient  light 
was  provided  for  photographing  by  the 
special  portable  arc  lamp. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

AVIATION    IN   THE    MOVIES 

WHAT  most  of  all  does  the  average  mo- 
tion picture  director  like  to  put  on  the 
film?  Why,  a  story  pulsating  with  thrills,  as 
he  would  describe  it  in  his  trade  paper  adver- 
tisements. Aviation  fills  his  somewhat  ex- 
acting desires  admirably,  and  one  does  not 
have  to  seek  far  to  ascertain  why  he  exhibits 
such  a  desired  preference  for  aircraft  being 
"featured,"  to  use  a  studio  term,  in  photo- 
plays. There  are  tricks  in  every  trade,  which 
fact  is  as  true  of  the  motion  picture  industry 
as  any  other. 

Maybe  you  have  got  into  the  habit  of  drop- 
ping into  a  movie  show  to  pass  an  idle  hour  or 
so  away  and  witness  an  aviation  picture  every 
now  and  then.  The  most  common  situation 
of  all  is  that  in  which  the  hero  figures  in  the 

capacity  of  aviator.     There  is  a  scene  where 

66 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  67 

he  kisses  and  embraces  his  sweetheart,  after 
which  he  steps  into  the  machine  in  proper  cos- 
tume and  gets  ready  for  the  flight.  Then,  as 
if  a  magic  wand  had  been  waved,  he  appears 
flying  in  mid  air.  But  there  is  a  big  motive 
for  deliberately  deleting  the  actual  start.  At 
this  stage,  a  real  aviator,  whose  services  are 
hired,  takes  the  place  of  the  movie  airman. 
When  the  airman  is  in  full  flight,  the  substi- 
tution cannot  be  detected.  The  same  ruse 
is  repeated  when  the  aviator  reaches  terra 
firma  again. 

Antony  Jannus,  the  well  known  young,  old 
time  airman,  recently  complained  of  the  awk- 
wardness with  which  the  machines  were 
manipulated  in  most  cases.  He  has  always 
been  keenly  disappointed  to  see  an  airman  ap- 
parently approaching  close  to  the  camera  to 
demonstrate  his  ability,  and  then  have  him 
promptly  turn  aside  before  he  had  got  any- 
where near. 

"Many  men  who  are  picking  up  easy  money 
with  aircraft  are  not  expert  enough,"  he  said, 
in  a  press  interview,  "to  make  a  machine  do 
what  they  want  it  to  do.  But  assuming  that 
they  are  top  notch  pilots,  their  usual  lack  of 


68         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

histrionic  ability  must  necessarily  keep  them 
up  stage  to  a  certain  extent." 

Another  plan  the  director  favors  in  certain 
instances  is  to  utilise  a  portion  of  an  animated 
newspaper  containing  views  of  an  aerial  derby 
or  a  trial  flight  and  ingeniously  combine  the 
pick  of  the  scenes  in  the  play.  There  was  re- 
cently shown  in  England  a  war  drama  deal- 
ing with  the  Zeppelin  peril.  Real  airships 
were  introduced  and  it  was  stated  that  they 
flew  over  England.  Little,  however,  did  the 
audiences  realise  that  the  scenes  were  cut  out 
from  a  journal  illustrating  a  trial  flight  of  sev- 
eral of  these  air  monsters  over  Germany  prior 
to  the  war. 

In  a  French  film  a  wonderful  panorama  of 
the  earth  was  presented.  This  was  taken 
with  an  Aeroscope  camera,  which  is  just  like 
an  ordinary  kodak.  The  operator  was  taken 
up  in  the  aeroplane  as  a  passenger.  He 
strapped  his  machine  to  the  flying  machine  and 
merely  turned  the  handle. 

If  you  really  believe  that  the  producer  is 
rash  enough  to  squander  good  money  on  the 
wrecking  of  a  genuine  flying  machine,  then  you 
are  very  much  mistaken.     A  rough  skeleton 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         69 

is  constructed  by  the  studio  carpenters  and  is 
smothered  with  gasoline  to  make  it  burn 
fiercely  and  quickly.  Then  at  the  end  we  see 
the  actor  airman,  made  up  to  appear  injured 
and  dishevelled,  free  himself  from  the  wreck- 
age. And  so  the  make  believe  game  goes 
merrily  on. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

FILMING    EARTHQUAKES BEFORE   AND 

AFTER 

EXACTLY  a  week  after  the  recent  earth- 
quake occurred  in  Italy,  a  film  man  in 
this  country  unearthed  a  copy  of  a  picture  de- 
picting the  Messina  earthquake  of  a  few  years 
ago.  He  offered  it  to  exhibitors  as  portray- 
ing the  latest  disaster,  but  any  one  with  a  grain 
of  common  sense  must  have  realised  it  was  a 
fake,  for  it  would  have  taken  at  least  a  fort- 
night to  get  the  genuine  film  over  from  Italy. 
You  may  be  sure,  however,  that  there  were  ex- 
hibitors who  were  not  above  accepting  the 
fakir's  offer. 

Cinematographers  have  even  had  the  nerve 
to  go  inside  volcanos  in  actual  eruption.  Not 
so  long  ago  a  plucky  Italian  ventured  up 
Mount  Etna  at  a  time  of  its  activity,  going 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  edge  of  the  great 
crater.     Added  to  the  eruption  was  a  fierce 

wind,  and  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  path  of 

70 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  71 

the  ashes,  the  camera  man  took  up  his  position 
on  the  windward  side.  This  was  the  first 
occasion  on  which  an  active  crater  has  been 
filmed  inside.  The  film  showed  the  stream  of 
lava,  the  dense  volumes  of  smoke  coming  up 
and  the  volcanic  explosions. 

Frederick  Burlingham,  a  motion  picture 
photographer  with  several  perilous  under- 
takings to  his  credit,  managed  to  descend 
Mount  Vesuvius  to  a  depth  of  twelve  hundred 
and  twelve  feet,  reaching  the  bottom  of  the 
cone  and  a  point  within  two  feet  of  the  abyss, 
which  is  two  miles  deep  with  a  temperature  of 
sixty  degrees  centigrade.  New  avalanches 
were  impending  and  the  bottom  of  the  cave, 
covered  with  fresh  lava,  gave  signs  of  a  new 
explosion. 

On  the  way  down,  this  operator,  when  at  a 
depth  of  five  hundred  feet,  was  almost  smoth- 
ered with  the  main  current  of  smoke.  Not 
only  were  there  sulphur  fumes  to  contend 
with,  but  there  were  also  dense  clouds  of  cor- 
rosive hydrochloric  acid.  As  a  protection 
from  these,  he  lay  down  as  still  as  he  could 
and  refrained  from  breathing  until  he  could 
no  longer  hold  out.     Then  he  used  several 


72         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

thicknesses  of  cloth  as  a  respirator.  He 
stood  this  ordeal  for  twenty  minutes,  and  find- 
ing the  situation  getting  desperate,  he  decided 
to  turn  back  and  abandon  the  camera.  On 
second  thought,  however,  he  was  convinced 
that  the  further  he  penetrated  the  thinner 
would  be  the  smoke.  After  feeling  his  way 
past  the  sulphur  fumaroles  and  main  column 
of  chloric  acid  his  conviction  proved  correct. 

The  purveyor  of  thrills — otherwise  the  mo- 
tion picture  director — is  not  above  reconstruc- 
ting earthquakes,  which  are  about  the  hardest 
things  of  all  to  devise.  One  was  put  on  in 
California  not  so  long  ago.  To  produce  this 
nine  tons  of  Judson  and  black  gunpowder  was 
used  to  mine  an  area  of  eight  hundred  and 
eighty  square  feet  to  a  depth  of  four  yards. 
At  the  distance  of  a  foot  between  each  two 
"coyote  holes"  were  dug,  in  which  was  placed 
gunpowder.  The  herculean  nature  of  the 
task  may  be  appreciated  from  the  fact  that 
four  expert  quarrymen  had  to  be  employed 
for  ten  days  so  as  to  place  the  wires  and  fill 
the  holes. 

The  camera  men  were  stationed  in  various 
positions  at  the  bottom  in  order  to  cover  the 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         73 

incident  from  all  vantages.  Their  tiny  steel 
enclosed  huts  protected  them  from  injury, 
daylight  itself  being  admitted  to  them 
through  but  two  holes,  one  of  which  was  for 
the  lens  of  the  camera,  the  other  for  obser- 
vation purposes.  When  all  was  ready  the 
buttons  were  pressed  and  the  wires  attached 
to  the  galvanic  battery  performed  their  good 
work.  Then  the  hill  exploded  with  one  ac- 
cord, and  for  a  whole  minute  volumes  of 
rock  and  small  stones  poured  down  the  hill. 
The  clouds  of  smoke  raised  by  the  explosion 
did  not  entirely  disappear  for  fully  two 
hours  after.  At  times  the  players  were 
placed  in  danger,  but  happily  received  no 
injury  more  serious  than  a  few  bruises.  The 
explosion  was  so  gigantic  that  people  eighteen 
miles  away  were  terrified  and  thought  that 
they  were  going  to  have  a  repetition  of  the 
1906  disaster. 

The  Lubin  Company  produced  a  film  along 
similar  lines  recently,  but  only  employed  a 
ton  of  dynamite.  Four  of  the  eight  cameras 
were  worked  by  electric  motors,  the  operators 
setting  them  to  work  from  a  point  half  a 
mile  away. 


74         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

This  company,  when  producing  "When  the 
Earth  Trembled,"  which  dealt  with  the  hor- 
rors of  the  San  Francisco  earthquake,  went 
to  the  great  trouble  and  expense  of  erecting 
the  interiors  of  some  of  the  buildings.  This 
took  the  stage  carpenters  weeks,  for  the 
rooms  had  to  be  built  to  collapse  gradually, 
in  a  natural  manner.  Each  set  was  built 
in  small  sections  with  a  wire  attached  to  each. 
These  wires  were  then  pulled  one  by  one,  and 
the  illusion  was  well  nigh  perfect. 

In  the  Domino  photoplay,  "The  Wrath  of 
the  Gods,"  the  director  went  further  in  his 
efforts  for  realism.  In  this  molten  lava 
poured  down  the  side  of  the  mountain.  This 
effect,  however,  was  secured  by  using  gallons 
of  some  chemical  preparation.  The  story 
dealt  with  the  volcanic  eruption  which  almost 
wiped  out  the  Isle  of  Sakura.  The  Japanese 
leading  woman  in  this  picture  lost  all  of  her 
relations  in  the  calamity.  The  director,  dis- 
covering that  she  was  determined  to  return  to 
her  native  country,  consoled  her  by  re-con- 
structing the  eruption  and  its  after  effects  on 
the  film.  Thus  does  the  motion  picture  di- 
rector accomplish  the  impossible. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

PRODUCING   A    BIBLICAL    MOTION 
PICTURE 

WITHOUT  exaggeration,  the  motion 
picture  producer  is  a  clever  Jack  of 
all  trades,  for  he  will  tackle  anything  under 
the  sun.  The  fact  that  he  is  not  thoroughly 
familiar  with  his  subject  matters  little  since 
he  has  the  knack  of  acquiring  the  requisite 
knowledge  when  it  will  serve  him  in  good 
stead. 

It  is,  indeed,  doubtful  whether  any  class 
of  productions  call  forth  for  so  much  re- 
sourcefulness and  ability  as  do  biblical  photo- 
plays. The  producer  is  only  too  well  aware 
that  if  he  goes  wrong  on  any  point  he  will 
surely  gain  the  censure  of  the  church.  It 
might  pass  muster  easily  before  the  average 
movie  audience,  but  if  he  can  please  the 
clergy  at  the  same  time,  then  he  has  good 
cause  to  pat  himself  on  the  back. 

75 


76         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

The  sacred,  and,  therefore,  difficult  task 
the  Kalem  Company  set  themselves  was  the 
producing  of  "From  Manger  to  Cross,"  a 
film  which  has  received  the  hearty  approval 
of  the  clergy,  press  and  public  alike  in  all 
Christian  countries.  It  has  also  merited  the 
distinction  of  being  called  the  greatest  re- 
ligious production  of  all  time. 

It  may  strike  you  as  rather  unusual  that 
there  was  little  elaborate  planning  for  its  pro- 
duction. It  came  about  in  this  way:  A 
troupe  of  Kalemites  happened  to  be  making  a 
batch  of  modern  dramas  in  the  Holy  Land, 
and  while  the  leading  lady,  Miss  Gene  Gaun- 
tier,  was  recovering  from  a  sunstroke,  it  oc- 
curred to  her  that  it  would  be  exceedingly  op- 
portune to  film  the  life  of  our  Saviour. 
After  consultation  with  her  director,  she 
wrote  the  scenario  in  five  reels. 

Somehow  or  other  the  news  that  the  pic- 
ture was  going  to  be  produced  got  to  the  ears 
of  ten  ministers  who  were  attending  a  con- 
ference in  Jerusalem.  So,  to  gratify  their 
curiosity,  they  discussed  the  photoplay  with 
Miss  Gauntier,  who  surprised  them  with  her 
knowledge  of  the  Bible.      For  instance,  she 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         77 

was  aware  that  Mary,  Martha's  sister,  and 
Mary  Magdalene  were  one  and  the  same  per- 
son. 

When  the  scenario  was  completed,  all  the 
responsibilities  rested  on  Sidney  Olcott,  the 
director.  Before  he  could  put  on  the  picture 
he  had  to  secure  the  authority  of  the  Turkish 
Governor  General  of  Jerusalem.  This  of- 
ficial was  very  obdurate,  but  after  having 
given  up  all  heart,  Mr.  Olcott  finally  won  the 
day  by  his  persuasive  abilities  and  was  free 
to  do  what  he  liked.  The  Governor,  al- 
though a  Mohammedan,  realized  the  influ- 
ence the  picture  would  have  on  Christians 
and  gave  Allah's  blessing  on  the  work. 

The  studio  in  which  the  interiors  were 
filmed  was  located  between  a  monastery 
and  a  Roman  Catholic  nunnery.  No  less 
than  five  players  portrayed  Christ.  The  first 
was  a  new  born  baby  borrowed  from  its  Aus- 
tralian parents  who  were  sojourning  in  Cairo. 
The  second  was  a  youngster  of  two,  while  the 
third  was  a  boy  of  eight.  In  the  important 
parts  of  the  youthful  and  adult  Christ,  the 
director  was  in  a  dilemma  for  suitable  types. 
Requiring    also    a    number    of    extras    for 


78  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

apostles,  etc.,  he  made  a  trip  to  London,  se- 
curing what  he  required.  The  young  Christ 
was  a  boy  of  thirteen,  Percy  Dyer  by  name, 
who  would  easily  pass  for  sixteen.  The 
older  character  was  taken  by  R.  Henderson 
Bland,  an  English  stage  actor,  who  was  as 
natural  a  counterpart  as  could  be  found.  He 
left  London  for  Palestine  a  few  hours  after 
being  engaged.  On  the  sea  voyage  each  in 
turn  read  aloud  from  a  book  on  the  life  of 
Christ  so  that  all  could  gain  a  proper  appreci- 
ation and  reverence  for  the  subject.  In  fact, 
Mr.  Olcott  was  so  fastidious  that  he  gave 
them  to  understand  that  unless  they  were  able 
to  realise  the  sacredness  and  holiness  of  the 
undertaking  he  did  not  want  them  for  the 
film.  None,  however,  replied  in  the  nega- 
tive, and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  all  lived  their 
parts  during  the  weeks  in  which  filming  oper- 
ations took  place. 

Every  night  the  following  day's  work  was 
planned  out.  The  players  suffered  great 
inconvenience  through  the  intense  heat. 
Nearly  all  the  settings  were  produced  on  the 
actual  locations,  while  biblical  experts,  after 
visiting  the  museum  in  Cairo,  and  inspecting 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         79 

the  old  models,  gave  out  exact  directions  for 
the  stage  carpenters  for  a  number  of  chariots 
that  should  reproduce  the  old;  and  instruct 
the  costumiers,  as  well,  on  the  correct  dress 
of  the  period. 

Mohammedans  were  engaged  to  partici- 
pate in  the  crucifixion  scenes;  and  they  did  not 
need  much  encouraging  to  produce  the  de- 
sired realism. 

Mr.  Bland  recently  addressed  a  meeting  in 
a  New  York  church  when  the  picture  was 
shown.  "I  shall  never  forget  the  day  I 
toiled  along  the  Via  Dolorosa  with  the  huge 
symbol  that  has  carried  the  message  of  mercy 
through  the  ages.  Great  crowds  stood  for 
hours  in  the  blazing  Syrian  sun  and  numbers 
lined  the  walls  and  covered  the  roofs  of  the 
houses.  The  crowds  around  my  carriage 
were  so  dense  that  police  were  told  off  to  keep 
the  people  back.  When  I  left  the  carriage 
to  take  up  my  position  in  the  scene  a  way 
was  made  for  me  with  no  word  said. 
Women  stepped  forward  and  kissed  my 
robe." 

Surely  it  spoke  volumes  for  his  adapta- 
bility for  the  difficult  role  he  had  to  assume. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CONTROLLING  WILD   ANIMALS   ON   THE 

FILM 

THE  producing  of  animal  feature  films 
is  to-day  a  specialised  business.  When 
the  movies  were  young,  the  producers  merely 
hired  what  they  wanted  from  some  circus  or 
menagerie  near  by.  But  these  were  soon 
found  unsuitable  for  the  purpose. 

It  was  hard  to  accustom  the  animals  to  the 
extreme  smallness  of  the  cinema  stage.  The 
result  of  this  was  that  several  film  companies 
acquired  menageries  of  their  own  and  trained 
the  beasts  especially  for  motion  pictures. 

Companies  such  as  the  Selig  and  Universal 
have  their  own  staff  of  animal  trainers,  while 
some  of  the  players  make  a  specialty  of  the 
work. 

It  is  first  of  all  necessary  for  them  to  get 

on  friendly  terms  with  the  animals  they  play 

alongside.     Undoubtedly  Miss  Kathlyn  Wil- 

80  ' 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         81 

Hams  is  the  most  accomplished  actress  in  this 
particular  line,  for  she  can  handle  full  grown 
leopards  like  cats.  But  the  work  is  not  with- 
out its  dangers.  For  instance,  in  "Lost  in 
the  Jungle"  she  came  very  near  losing  her  life. 
She  had  to  stoop  down  almost  on  top  of  a 
tiger  and  when  it  turned  round  she  was  to 
leap  behind  a  projecting  rock.  The  neces- 
sary arrangements  were  made  and  through 
some  misadventure  that  arose  over  a  given 
signal,  the  animal  made  for  her  at  a  rush. 
There  w7as  no  time  for  the  actress  to  escape 
and  the  animal  tore  her  scalp  before  he  could 
be  beaten  off  by  one  of  the  assistants.  The 
gash  on  her  head  necessitated  six  stitches  with 
the  surgeon's  needle. 

It  is  by  no  means  unusual  for  the  beasts  to 
prove  treacherous  like  this,  and  the  trainers 
have  ever  to  be  alert. 

When  you  see  the  animals  prowling  in  the 
African  Jungle  you  can  be  sure  it  is  some- 
where in  sunny  California.  Tracts  of  land 
are  closed  in  on  all  sides  in  order  to  prevent 
the  denizens  of  the  forest  from  escaping. 

Like  other  trades,  this  has  its  tricks.  In 
"Samson,"  Warren  Kerrigan  was  supposed  to 


82  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

break  the  jaws  of  a  lion  with  his  bare  arms. 
The  director  had  "Jack  of  Hearts"  handle  the 
lion — the  tamest  one  in  their  zoo — and  then 
leave  him.  The  camera  was  stopped  while 
the  lion  was  drugged  and,  without  any  appar- 
ent break  in  the  film,  Warren  was  seen  master- 
ing the  almost  unconscious  beast. 

"Quo  Vadis?"  was  another  example. 

In  this  picture  twenty  lions  are  turned  loose 
upon  a  whole  mass  of  "Christians"  in  the 
arena. 

The  front  rank  of  these  supers  were  com- 
posed of  animal  trainers,  armed  with  re- 
volvers. On  the  film  the  lions  are  seen  tear- 
ing the  "Christians"  to  pieces;  but  in  the 
taking  of  it  the  lions  advanced  to  a  safe  dis- 
tance and  were  hustled  back  to  their  cages. 
Then  dummy  bodies  were  scattered  all  over 
the  arena  and  bullock's  blood  thrown  on  the 
dummies.  After  this  the  animals  were  set 
free  and  the  smell  of  the  blood  made  them 
attack  the  "bodies"  ravenously. 

It  is  really  wonderful  what  the  director 
can  do  with  a  juicy  piece  of  meat.  When 
you  see  wild  animals  trying  to  knock  doors 
down  in  order  to  attack  a  human  being,  you 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  33 

can  bet  there  is  a  joint  hung  from  a  concealed 
place  that  the  beast  is  after. 

A  common  trick  when  beasts  leap  over  a 
player  is  to  place  a  dead  gazelle  out  of  range 
of  the  camera. 

Despite  all  these  dodges,  the  work  is  far 
from  being  danger  proof,  and  you,  as  a  fan, 
should  be  appreciative  of  the  thrills  that  fig- 
ure in  this  class  of  film. 


CHAPTER  XX 

WHY   NAVAL   MOVIES   ARE    SO   SCARCE 

YOU  may  travel  far  and  wide  to  see  the 
class  of  films  you  prefer,  and,  in  des- 
peration, you  may  apply  to  the  fountain 
head. 

"I  want  ten  cents'  worth  of  thrills  and  ex- 
citement, please,"  you  begin. 

"What  kind?"  the  producer  would  ask. 

"Oh,  naval  dramas." 

"Sorry  I  am  unable  to  supply  you,  but  we 
seldom  produce  these." 

And  if  you  was  determined  on  ferreting 
out  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  the  case,  you 
would  soon  be  informed  that  there  is  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  securing  the  co-opera- 
tion of  our  navy  department,  without  which 
the  successful  filming  of  these  movies  is  not 
possible.  The  motion  picture  manufacturer 
seldom  permits  a  mere  trifle  (as  he  regards 
it)    to  prevent  him    from   carrying  out   his 

84 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         85 

purpose.  But  naval  photoplays  are  a  dif- 
ferent proposition  altogether. 

The  producer  cannot,  for  instance,  pur- 
chase a  battleship  as  he  could  a  train  and 
make  a  present  of  it  to  old  man  Neptune. 
It  is  going  to  cost  him  a  million  or  more  dol- 
lars, whereas  he  draws  the  line  at  fifteen 
thousand.  There  would  be  a  balance  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  ledger  after  that  film  had 
been  marketed. 

A  submarine  was  once  loaned  to  the  Imp 
Company.  The  action  hinged  upon  the 
stealing  of  a  safety  valve,  and  when  the  ves- 
sel, manned  by  the  real  crew,  sank,  to  the 
ocean's  depths,  the  men  heroically  gasped  for 
breath.  They  did  not,  of  course,  go  through 
such  an  experience,  for  the  scenes  inside  the 
submarine  had  to  be  erected  in  the  studio. 
Had  they  been  filmed  in  the  heart  of  a  genu- 
ine ship  the  scenes  would  not  have  come  out 
clear  enough. 

The  second  example  was  when  the  Atlantic 
fleet  took  a  cruise  to  Cuban  waters.  On  a 
very  slender  story  the  well  known  "Victory" 
film  was  composed  for  the  purpose  of  featur- 
ing the  fleet.     J.  Parker  Reed,  the  director, 


86         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

fully  availed  himself  of  a  special  permit  by 
acting  as  commander  of  the  firing  operations. 
He  did  this  from  the  bridge  of  the  battle- 
ship Utah.  Hundreds  of  marines  volun- 
teered in  a  land  engagement  for  the  produc- 
tion. This  was  not  all,  however,  for  Lieu- 
tenant John  H.  Powers  took  his  life  in  his 
hands  when  piloting  his  hydroplane  in  the 
midst  of  the  battle  smoke,  the  smoke  burn- 
ing the  skin  off  his  hands. 

As  a  rule,  the  director  is  not  fond  of  fak- 
ing things,  but  he  knows  how  to  do  it  when  it 
comes  to  a  pinch.  He  builds  up  the  hull  of 
a  battle  ship  in  the  studio  and  fastens  it  on 
gliders  so  that  it  may  be  given  a  realistic 
and  rolling  motion.  To  sink  it  is  another 
story.  This  is  done  by  manipulating  a  bat- 
tleship model  on  a  canvas  covered  table. 
The  camera  operator  films  the  "wreck,"  ac- 
complished by  electric  wires,  as  it  disappears 
below  the  table  which  does  duty  as  the  water 
line.  On  another  day  a  second  exposure  is 
made  somewhere  on  the  real  sea  coast,  and 
by  the  clever  joining  of  the  two  negatives, 
a  perfect  illusion  is  produced. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

PRESENTING    CAFES   AND    HOTELS    IN 
MOTION    PICTURES 

WHEN  the  motion  picture  producer 
puts  on  a  photoplay  in  which  the 
characters  lead  a  gay  life,  you  can  be  sure 
that  either  a  cafe  or  a  hotel  will  figure  in  the 
most  important  scenes. 

The  scenario  writer  can  make  his  char- 
acters do  wonders  under  the  influence  of 
wine  and  lovely  women.  He  finds,  also,  that 
hotels  are  ideal  places  for  misadventures; 
the  characters  get  into  wrong  rooms,  thus 
placing  themselves  in  awkward  situations. 

The  director  now  pays  more  attention  to 
atmosphere  than  in  the  past  and  obtains  the 
genuine  article  as  often  as  he  possibly  can. 

The  director,  or  producer,  as  some  prefer 
to  call  him,  has  generally  been  credited  with 
using  soft  drinks  such  as  ginger  ale  in  cafe 

*7 


88  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

scenes,  but  in  the  Ince  feature  production, 
"The  Reward,"  the  director  would  not  go 
ahead  until  six  dozen  quarts  of  imported 
champagne,  obtained  from  a  well-known 
Southern  Californian  cafe,  were  served  out 
to  the  principals  and  extras  in  the  scene.  So 
there  were  no  half-hearted  efforts  about  the 
merry  making  and  this  improved  the  photo- 
play wonderfully. 

In  putting  on  "Midnight  at  Maxim's,"  the 
Kalem  Company  had  to  represent  the  in- 
terior of  this  well  known  metropolitan  cafe 
on  an  elaborate  scale  at  their  New  Jersey 
studios.  But  in  order  that  every  detail 
should  be  scrupulously  correct,  the  employees 
and  entertainers  of  the  establishment  were 
brought  over  one  afternoon. 

The  employees  attended  to  waiting  on  the 
"guests"  in  business  like  fashion,  the  enter- 
tainers, all  of  whom  were  Broadway  favor- 
ites, provided  a  sparkling  Musical  Revue. 

One  of  Maxim's  regular  customers  is 
Baron  Hand  von  Ringhofer,  who  claims  to 
be  related  to  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of 
Austria.  He  obtains  his  income  from  his 
family  in   Bohemia,  but  on  account  of  the 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES  89 

war  these  remittances  have  ceased.  He 
therefore  turned  to  the  stage  as  a  means  of 
livelihood,  and  when  the  news  of  the  Kalem 
undertaking  reached  his  ears,  he  pleaded 
hard  to  be  allotted  a  part.  He  argued  that 
unless  he  was  shown  in  Maxim's  the  picture 
would  not  be  true  to  life.  Accordingly,  the 
Kalem  Company  engaged  him. 

When  putting  on  "The  Dancer,"  which 
called  for  a  fashionable  Parisian  cafe,  the 
director  assigned  to  produce  it  by  the  Uni- 
versal Company  inspected  all  their  proper- 
ties. Extensive  as  they  were,  they  proved 
quite  inadequate  to  meet  the  special  demand. 

The  director  tore  his  hair  and  swore  like 
a  maniac,  but  was  pacified  when  the  purchas- 
ing agent  reported  that  there  was  a  chance  to 
get  the  necessary  equipment  at  a  famous  local 
cafe  which  an  insufficient  trade  was  causing  to 
shut  down. 

The  powers  that  be,  when  conferred  with, 
realised  that  the  "props"  would  come  in 
handy  on  like  occasions;  so  the  purchase  was 
promptly  transacted.  Before  many  hours 
had  elapsed,  the  whole  equipment  of  the  cafe, 
including    chairs,    tables,    tapestries,    linens, 


9o         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

silverware  and  crockery,  was  doing  service 
in  the  delayed  production. 

Now  that  the  portable  arc  lamp  provides 
sufficient  light  for  filming  purposes  inside 
cafes  and  restaurants,  the  director  sometimes 
prefers  not  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  erecting 
such  sets  in  the  studio. 

It  is  not  possible,  of  course,  to  take  scenes 
in  hotels  in  daytime  without  attracting  at- 
tention. So  the  Celebrated  Players  Com- 
pany decided  to  have  free  run  of  the  Alex- 
andra Hotel  in  Los  Angeles  in  the  wee  hours. 
They  had  not,  however,  counted  upon  the 
peculiar  fascination  exerted  by  the  movies; 
and  soon  inquisitive  people  in  pajamas  and 
kimonos  began  to  peep  out  of  their  rooms. 
The  plentiful  array  of  brilliant  lamps  in  the 
150-foot  lobby  made  it  resemble  New  York's 
Broadway  on  a  miniature  scale.  Scenes  were 
filmed  in  all  parts  of  the  hotel.  Too  bad  to 
deprive  tired  humans  of  their  beauty  sleep! 

The  Kalem  Company  have  given  another 
example  of  their  ability  to  do  things  on  a  big 
scale.  In  producing  "The  Mysteries  of  the 
Grand  Hotel"  at  their  Glendale,  California 
studios,   they  engaged  Arthur  Siedle,   tech- 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         91 

nical  director  for  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
Company,  to  design  a  magnificent  hotel 
lobby.  This  has  been  declared  by  those  who 
should  know  to  be  the  most  costly  and 
elaborate  set  which  has  ever  graced  a  motion 
picture. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE   DANGERS   OF   EMPLOYING   RED- 
SKINS  AS   MOVIE   ACTORS 

IT  is  only  within  the  last  two  or  three  years 
that  genuine  Redskins  have  been  em- 
ployed in  pictures.  Before  then  these  parts 
were  taken  by  white  actors  made  up  for  the 
occasion.  But  this  method  was  not  realistic 
enough  to  satisfy  the  progressive  spirit  of 
the  producer. 

The  Red  Indians  who  have  been  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  permanent  engagements 
with  the  several  Western  film  companies  are 
paid  a  salary  that  keeps  them  well  provided 
with  tobacco  and  their  worshipped  "fire- 
water." 

It  might  be  thought  that  this  would  civilise 
them  completely,  but  it  has  had  a  quite  re- 
verse effect,  for  the  work  affords  them  an 
opportunity  to  live  their  savage  days  over 
again,  and  they  are  not  slow  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it. 

92 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         93 

They  put  their  heart  and  soul  in  the  work, 
especially  in  battles  with  the  whites, 
and  it  is  necessary  to  have  armed  guards 
watch  over  their  movements  for  the  least 
sign  of  treachery.  They  naturally  object  to 
acting  in  pictures  where  they  are  defeated, 
and  it  requires  a  good  deal  of  coaxing  to  in- 
duce them  to  take  on  such  objectionable  parts. 

Once  a  white  player  was  seriously  wounded 
when  the  Indians  indulged  in  a  bit  too  much 
realism  with  their  clubs  and  tomahawks. 
After  this  activity  they  had  their  weapons 
padded  in  order  to  prevent  further  injurious 
use  of  them. 

With  all  the  precautions  that  are  taken, 
the  Redskins  occasionally  manage  to  smuggle 
real  bullets  into  action;  but  happily  they  have 
always  been  detected  in  the  nick  of  time, 
though  on  one  occasion  some  cowboys  had  a 
narrow  escape  during  the  producing  of  a 
Bison  film. 

Even  to-day  a  few  white  players  specialise 
in  Indian  parts.  They  are  pastmasters  in 
such  roles,  for  they  have  made  a  complete 
study  of  Indian  life,  and  by  clever  make-up 
they   are   hard   to   tell   from    real   redskins. 


94         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

They  take  leading  parts,  for  which  Indians 
are  seldom  adaptable. 

To  act  as  an  Indian  is  the  easiest  thing  pos- 
sible, for  the  Redskin  is  practically  motion- 
less. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

MUSICAL    MATTERS    IN   MOTION    PIC- 
TURE   PRODUCING 

WHEN  the  history  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture producer's  work  comes  to  be 
written,  there  will  be  a  whole  chapter  de- 
voted to  the  part  music  has  played  in  con- 
nection with  it. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  you  will  find  it 
interesting  to  know  just  what  is  being  done  in 
this  connection  at  the  present  time. 

The  motion  picture  player,  like  all  expo- 
nents of  true  art,  is  temperamental  to  a  de- 
gree. Furthermore,  while  the  legitimate 
stage  actor  has  a  real  human  audience  in  front 
of  him  to  stir  him  on,  the  photoplayer  has 
no  such  vital  element  as  this  to  act  as  an  in- 
centive. All  there  is  in  front  of  him  is  a  cold 
clicking  camera  and  a  loud-voiced,  business- 
like director.  These  are  just  the  very  things 
to  put  the  damper  on  true  art.  Yet  these  are 
not  quite  all :  the  director  knows  that  music  in 

95 


96         MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

a  comedy,  for  instance,  hath  charms;  a  catchy 
waltz  would  help  the  acting  along  wonder- 
fully, and  a  haunting  melody  could  accom- 
plish much  in  assisting  a  player  to  rise  to 
the  full  heights  of  an  intensely  emotional  part. 
It  may  surprise  you  to  know  that  one  of  the 
big  film  producing  companies  regularly  em- 
ploys an  orchestra  of  several  pieces  to  dis- 
pense appropriate  music  in  such  dramas. 
May  their  enterprising  move  be  followed  by 
others ! 

In  spite  of  all  the  advantages  of  the  photo- 
play profession  over  that  of  the  speaking 
stage,  the  longing  comes  to  those  who  have 
left  the  latter  to  return  to  it.  And  so  they 
do.  What  is  the  reason,  then?  You  may 
count  upon  the  regular  theatre  as  supplying 
half  the  cause  and  upon  the  opportunity  to 
earn  applause  at  first  hand  as  supplying  the 
other  half. 

The  film  players  are  simply  delighted  when 
a  film  story  calls  for  music.  Robert  Leon- 
ard, the  Rex  leading  man,  is  quite  talented  as 
a  musician,  and  when  he  recently  had  to  act 
as  the  conductor  of  an  orchestra  he  rose  to 
the  occasion  in  a  praiseworthy  manner. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         97 

Probably  the  most  common  photoplay  sit- 
uation of  all  is  the  drawing  room  where  the 
heroine  enchants  the  hero  by  playing  the 
piano  and  accompanying  it  with  her  sweet 
voice.  I  have  visited  a  good  many  motion 
picture  studios  in  my  time,  but  only  once  have 
I  been  disillusioned.  The  company  in  ques- 
tion used  a  "property"  piano  minus  any 
mechanism  inside.  So  when  the  leading  lady 
thumped  at  the  keys,  not  a  single  sound  came 
from  the  instrument  and  both  she  and  her 
ulover"  had  the  difficult  task  of  imagining 
that  music  was  in  the  air. 

The  photoplayer  cannot  know  too  much 
and  a  knowledge  of  music  is  certainly  an  ad- 
vantage, for  although  you  have  no  oppor- 
tunity of  judging  the  tone  quality  of  their  ef- 
forts, it  is  easy  to  judge  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  players  operate  the  instrument 
whether  they  are  possessed  of  more  than 
theoretical  knowledge. 

The  movie  stars  owe  rather  a  big  debt  to 
music,  since  songs  have  been  written  around 
them  and  have  helped  to  increase  their  popu- 
larity. 

There  is,  for  example,  the  Kathlyn  Waltz 


98  MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

written  around  Kathlyn  Williams,  and  now 
"Broncho  Billy,"  Gilbert  M.  Anderson's 
character  creation,  has  been  immortalised  in 
song. 

The  producing  concerns  may  be  slow  in 
accompanying  the  producing  of  films  with 
music,  but  the  leading  ones  take  good  care 
that  the  movie-theaters  put  on  the  plays  with 
appropriate  music.  To  this  end  they  issue 
music  hints  in  connection  with  their  films. 
Here  is  just  one  example : 

Victor — Saved  by  a  Dream  (Two- 
Reel  Drama). 

Reel  i — "Dreams,"  Wagner;  "Dreams 
of  Delight." 

Reel  2— "Lyric  Suite,"  Crieg;  "Vila- 
nelle  Song." 

A  German  producer  was  so  ambitious  prior 
to  the  war  that  he  turned  out  a  feature  photo- 
play on  "The  Life  of  Wagner"  and  I  must 
say  that  the  film  version  did  him  great  credit. 

The  makers  of  the  movies  are  by  no  means 
averse  to  adapting  songs.  Who  does  not  re- 
member the  production  of  "Home,  Sweet 
Home,"  by  that  master  director,  David  W. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES         99 

Griffith?  It  showed  how  the  famous  song 
was  inspired  by  Payne,  and  the  full  meaning 
of  the  song  was  expressed  so  perfectly  that 
the  display  of  handkerchiefs  indicated  that  the 
spectators  were  affected.  It  is  one  of  the  sad- 
dest and  most  human  photodramas  I  have  yet 
seen.  Of  course  had  it  been  presented  with- 
out a  first-rate  orchestra,  it  would  have  been 
a  failure  on  the  screen. 

I  have  recently  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
a  film  production  of  the  popular  song,  "It's 
a  Long  Way  to  Tipperary."  It  went  with 
a  swing  from  beginning  to  end,  and  the  song 
that  fits  in  so  well  with  the  somewhat  exacting 
requirements  of  the  motion  picture  is  a  price- 
less pearl. 

The  verses  were  thrown  on  the  screen  at 
appropriate  moments. 

Judging  from  the  present  friendly  rela- 
tions between  the  motion  picture  and  music, 
it  would  seem  that  they  are  destined  to  get 
on  even  more  intimate  terms  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

HOW  TRICK   PHOTOPLAYS   ARE   PRO- 
DUCED 

YOU  as  a  movie  fan  may  pride  yourself 
upon  the  fact  that  the  producer  can  sel- 
dom thoroughly  surprise  you  because  you 
know  so  many  secrets  of  motion  picture  pro- 
ducing, but,  for  all  that  the  type  of  photoplay 
labelled  as  "trick"  is  apt  to  be  a  bit  mystify- 
ing. You  don't  see  so  many  of  them  knock- 
ing about  nowadays,  and  few  fans  ever  dis- 
covered how  they  were  put  on.  This  chap- 
ter tells  all  about  the  wizardry  of  the  di- 
rector. 

We  all  know  well  the  slapstick  comedy  in 
which  the  players  indulge  in  a  fast  and  furious 
chase.  In  all  reality  the  players  do  not  move 
so  fast  as  they  seem  to  on  the  film.  The 
camera  does  the  trick.  Instead  of  taking  six- 
teen pictures  a  minute  which  gives  an  effect 
of  normal  motion,  it  is  made  to  take  about 

IOO 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       101 

double  the  number.  This  means  that  the  fig- 
ures on  the  film  move  at  double  the  pace  of 
normal  life. 

Who  has  not  seen  a  toy  doll  come  to  life 
and  walk  about  like  a  human  being?  First 
the  doll  is  placed  in  a  stationary  position  and 
a  few  feet  of  photographs  are  taken.  Oper- 
ations then  stop  while  one  of  her  legs  is 
shifted,  which  movement  is  also  recorded. 
The  same  is  done  with  the  other  leg,  and  the 
movements  are  repeated  until  the  director 
gets  what  he  wants.  These  are  photo- 
graphed on  a  single  strip  of  film  without  the 
stops  appearing.  When  projected  on  the 
screen  at  the  usual  pace,  the  doll  walks  as 
active  as  life. 

Another  effect  which  caused  quite  a  sensa- 
tion was  that  of  a  man  who  greatly  resented 
being  captured  by  an  astute  cinematographer. 
In  revenge,  he  swallows  the  camera  man  and 
his  machine  as  well.  This  was  done  by  hav- 
ing the  lens  of  the  camera  on  a  dead  level 
with  the  man's  face ;  and  the  nearer  the  man 
strode  towards  the  camera,  the  less  of  his 
body  was  visible.  At  the  end,  a  black  hole, 
representing  the  man's  mouth,  was  revealed. 


102        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

This  last  was  obtained  in  a  dark  room  which 
contained  an  open  window.  The  trouble 
causing  operator  leaped  through  the  window, 
clutching  the  camera.  This  was  filmed.  To 
prevent  injury  to  the  actor,  a  mattress  was 
placed  below. 

Then  there  is  the  steam  roller  stunt  in 
which  a  man  is  run  over  and  immediately  gets 
up  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  It  is 
arranged  for  the  road  mender  to  come  to  a 
standstill  just  as  the  man  is  knocked  down, 
then  the  camera  is  stopped  until  a  dummy  is 
substituted.  This  the  steam  roller  pulverizes 
and  the  camera  is  turned  until  the  dummy  is 
replaced  by  the  man.  When  he  so  calmly 
rises  the  deed  is  done. 

Another  clever  trick  is  that  of  a  tired  man 
dressing  himself  without  effort.  The  clothes 
travel  across  the  floor  from  their  hooks  and 
attach  themselves  to  him.  His  hair  is  parted 
by  invisible  hands;  his  boots  and  necktie  are 
tied  in  like  manner.  The  collar  also  fixes  it- 
self around  his  neck.  Let  us  take  one  por- 
tion of  the  trick  and  then  we  can  comprehend 
the  whole.  The  boots  are  filmed  unlaced, 
then  a  stop  is  made  during  which  the  laces 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        103 

are  placed  through  the  first  eyelet  hole.  This 
process  is  continued  until  every  eyelet  hole 
has  been  filled  and  thus  the  convincing  pic- 
ture is  obtained. 

There  have  also  been  all  sorts  of  funny 
things  produced  such  as  having  the  furniture 
take  a  trip  round  the  room  and  the  dining 
table  set  itself.  Many  have  been  puzzled  at 
seeing  a  bricklayer  enjoy  his  pipe  in  front  of 
a  pile  of  bricks,  which,  one  by  one,  fly  on  to 
the  wall  and  place  themselves  in  position, 
thus  gradually  building  the  wall.  The  man 
is  filmed  by  the  wall,  but  on  the  other  side, 
out  of  range  of  the  camera,  another  man 
pulls  down  the  already  erected  wall  and 
throws  each  brick  onto  the  pile  by  the  side 
of  the  first  man.  By  reversing  the  film,  the 
last  picture  appears  first,  and  so  you  are  de- 
ceived. 

If  an  accidental  fall  from  a  scaffold  is 
wanted  in  a  picture,  everything  is  actual  until 
the  actor  poses  for  the  fall;  then  a  dummy  is 
placed  in  his  place.  The  camera  man  then 
pulls  him  over  by  an  invisible  wire  and  re- 
cords the  fall.  At  the  bottom  another  oper- 
ator is  stationed  and  he  gets  the  incident  of 


io4       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

the  dummy  being  smashed  to  pieces  by  the 
impact.  All  the  limbs  are  then  joined  to- 
gether by  means  of  invisible  wires  and  the 
actor  is  replaced.  Each  process,  of  course, 
is  filmed  separately. 

Maybe  you  have  at  some  time  or  other  wit- 
nessed wagons,  automobiles  and  men  climb 
up  buildings  with  astonishing  ease  and  rapid- 
ity. A  piece  of  painted  scenery  is  placed 
on  the  ground  and  the  objects  run  over 
it.  The  camera  is  operated  from  up  above 
from  a  specially  constructed  platform. 
When  the  film  is  completed  the  object  appears 
to  be  ascending  a  perfectly  perpendicular 
wall. 

Perhaps  you  remember  seeing  the  film  in 
which  a  bachelor,  while  smoking  at  the  table, 
sees  a  fairy  of  amazing  smallness  walk  out  of 
the  cigar  box,  and  trip  over  the  matches  and 
pipe.  Perhaps  you  have  seized  upon  the  idea 
that  the  doll  trick  is  used  to  produce  this  ef- 
fect.    But  it  is  not. 

To  accomplish  this  clever  feat  the  actor  sits 
at  the  table  and  imagines  what  is  occurring. 
Directly  to  the  left  of  him  is  a  large  mirror, 
while  to  the  direct  right  is  the  camera.     Sev- 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        105 

eral  feet  from  the  side  of  the  camera  is  lo- 
cated a  second  table,  on  which  are  matches, 
cigar  box  and  pipe,  each  of  extraordinary- 
size.  The  table  is  proportionately  large  and 
on  it  out  of  the  huge  cigar  box  walks  a  real 
life-size  actress.  All  this  is  reflected  in 
miniature  by  the  mirror  and  the  camera  se- 
cures it.     The  result  is  a  perfect  illusion. 

It  all  seems  so  simple,  doesn't  it?  but  the 
work  is  very  tedious  and  exciting. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


"reel"  money  matters 


THERE  is  a  wide  breach  between  finan- 
cial affairs  on  the  films  and  those  in  real 
life. 

There  is  a  story  going  the  rounds  in  film 
acting  circles  of  a  young  movie  actor  who 
tried  to  pawn  his  film  watch  when  hard  up. 
But  the  pawnbroker  wouldn't  even  lend  him  a 
cent  on  it,  for  he  found  that  the  timepiece  was 
merely  tin  studded  with  bits  of  glass  to  repre- 
sent diamonds.  When  playing  the  "spend- 
thrift son"  the  actor  could  always  raise  $100 
on  it  from  the  film  "uncle." 

Another  leading  man  will  never  have  his 
check  book  on  him  again  when  acting  before 
the  camera.  Recently,  for  a  film,  he  had  to 
draw  a  check  and  hand  it  to  a  companion 
player.  By  mistake  he  used  his  own  check 
book  instead  of  a  dummy  one.     The  check, 

duly  signed  and  written  out,  was  left  on  the 

1 06 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        107 

table  after  the  film  had  been  taken.  It  then 
found  its  way  to  the  wastebin.  There  it  was 
discovered  by  some  one  who  realised  its  value 
and  cashed  it.  The  "star"  in  question  went 
about  for  weeks  afterwards  in  dejection  over 
his  $200  loss. 

A  financier  in  one  film  had  all  the  wealth 
imaginable  until  the  crisis  conveyed  in  a  letter 
told  him  that  he  had  lost  his  millions  through 
the  failure  of  something  he  had  his  fortune 
invested  in.  No  mortal  man  could  have 
made  his  agony  and  despair  so  convincing. 
It  held  the  audience  spellbound  to  know  what 
the  eventful  note  was  about.  But  the  di- 
rector in  his  lust  for  realism  played  an  artful 
trick  on  the  actor.  He  knew  that  he  had 
placed  a  heavy  bet  on  a  horse,  so  he  substi- 
tuted a  real  letter  for  the  "property"  note, 
informing  the  "financier"  that  his  horse  had 
lost. 

For  a  film,  another  director,  after  much 
trouble,  came  across  an  ideal  hiding  place  for 
a  modern  pirate's  hoard.  Immediately  he 
ordered  sacks  of  imitation  money  to  be  de- 
spatched from  headquarters,  but  these  unfor- 
tunately went  astray,   and  the  director  was 


108        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

placed  in  an  awkward  predicament.  How- 
ever, he  eventually  cashed  a  check  for  $450, 
receiving  the  amount  in  silver  dollars.  He 
buried  these  in  sacks  on  the  river  beach. 
While  busy  producing  the  picture  he  failed  to 
notice  that  the  tide  was  coming  in  fast,  so 
when  it  was  necessary  to  dig  up  the  treasure, 
the  hiding  place  was  surrounded  by  water. 
The  director's  dismay  knew  no  bounds,  and 
his  next  few  hours  were  spent  anxiously  wait- 
ing for  the  tide  to  go  out  again.  When  it 
did  turn,  he  could  not  discover  the  location 
of  the  money  and  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  the 
beach  was  dug  up  before  it  was  finally  found. 
The  plot  in  one  play  necessitates  a  scene  in 
which  two  gamblers  play  cards,  and  the  one 
who  loses  leaves  and  shoots  himself.  The 
scenario  did  not  stipulate  which  one  of  the 
players  should  die,  so  the  director  hit  upon 
the  idea  of  having  them  play  a  genuine  game 
in  order  to  make  the  scene  appear  lifelike. 
The  players  spun  out  the  game  so  long  that 
the  scene  consumed  almost  a  whole  reel  of 
film.  Then  the  director,  exasperated,  asked 
why  they  didn't  bring  it  to  a  conclusion  ten 
minutes     earlier.     It     appeared     that    both 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        109 

wanted  to  commit  suicide,  as  the  man  who 
won  had  to  appear  in  the  film  for  an  hour 
afterwards,  during  which  time  he  had  to  be 
chased  by  the  police,  thrown  over  a  precipice, 
come  to  grips  with  a  grizzly  bear,  be  almost 
lynched  by  an  angry  crowd,  and  then  embrace 
the  heroine  in  the  last  scene.  In  the  end  they 
tossed  up  to  decide  the  matter,  as  "dying"  off 
there  and  then  was  preferable  to  facing  all 
the  ordeals  in  store. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE    IRREGULARS   OF    FILMDOM 

THE  "extra"  is  such  an  important  indi- 
vidual that  no  producing  company  can 
get  along  without  his  or  her  assistance.  And 
why  are  these  players  to  be  so  essential,  you 
might  ask. 

Some  photoplays  demand  so  many  minor 
roles  that  the  regular  company's  players  are 
totally  insufficient.  This  often  occurs  when 
a  big  drawing  room  or  restaurant  scene  is 
staged.  Dancing  couples  and  diners  are 
needed  to  dress  in  the  scenes. 

Extras  of  a  different  kind  are  those  who 
figure  in  mob  scenes. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  they  merely 

"walk  in."     Their  acting  can  make  or  mar  a 

play.     The   director  is  the  man  who   drills 

them  into  proper  form — a  no  mean  task,  I  can 

assure  you. 

The  Italian  and  French  producers  easily 

no 


Photo    by     World    Film    Corporation. 

Directing  a  Bunch  of  Extras  in  a  Wall   Street 

Photoplay 


Taking    a    Battle    Scene 


Photo    by    Lubin. 


■ 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        in 

excel  in  handling  crowds  of  a  thousand  up- 
wards in  the  big  spectacular  productions,  for 
which  they  are  noted.  But  their  American 
brothers  can  best  manage  fifty  or  so  in  a 
modern  drama.  I  am  dubious  about  the 
ability  of  the  average  British  producer  be- 
cause more  than  once  I  have  seen  pictures 
from  them  in  which  the  members  of  the  mob 
were  running  in  all  directions  as  though  un- 
certain what  they  had  to  do. 

Practically  every  company  experiences 
great  difficulties  in  obtaining  really  qualified 
"extras." 

If  you  imagine  that  all  "extras"  play  for 
an  income — and  an  uncertain  one  at  that — 
you  are  wrong.  Some  play  for  nothing — for 
one  reason  or  another.  Personal  vanity  is 
one  reason.  Such  persons  gratify  their  pride 
since  they  are  able  to  prove  to  their  friends 
that  they  have  played  in  a  film. 

Others  do  it  for  the  sake  of  getting  near 
their  picture  "idol."  You  should  see  how 
they  all  scramble  to  be  nearest  to  him,  and  the 
rivalry  that  exists  to  perform  some  little  per- 
sonal service  called  for  in  the  scenario.  It's 
a  sight  for  the  gods ! 


ii2        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

A  no  small  number  are  prompted  by  ambi- 
tion. They  have  a  hankering  to  become 
picture  "stars,"  but  first  of  all  have  to  start 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder.  It  is  hard  to 
display  one's  individuality  when  in  the  "ex- 
tra" class,  but  to  do  it  is  the  only  way  in 
which  to  attract  the  director's  notice. 

When  an  extra  applies  for  work  he  leaves 
his  card,  giving  personal  information  on  the 
back  and  also  a  photograph.  Then  when  the 
producer  is  in  want  of  one  or  more  supers,  he 
just  runs  through  the  cards  and  photographs. 
He  selects  the  types  he  needs.  They  then  are 
told  when  to  report  for  work. 

Their  payment  for  a  day's  work  varies 
from  $2.50  to  $10. 

A  player  such  as  a  maid  or  butler  is  not  an 
"extra,"  for  all  big  film  companies  have  ar- 
tists on  their  regular  pay  roll  to  undertake 
small  parts  like  these. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

TAKING    EXTERIORS    BY    NIGHT 

WHEN  you  see  films  in  which  some  of 
the  action  transpires  at  night,  do 
they  ever  strike  you  as  if  they  had  really 
been  taken  during  the  gloomy  hours?  I  re- 
fer, of  course,  to  the  gloomy  outdoor  scenes, 
for  as  you  are  aware,  the  indoor  ones  are 
produced  in  the  studio  in  the  daytime. 

If  you  have  been  so  impressed  that  you 
have  imagined  that  they  are  real,  then  the 
artful  movie  director  has  but  taken  you  in 
with  a  vengeance.  "How,  then,  are  the  dark 
effects  produced?"  you  will  ask  me.  Well, 
the  secret  is  this:  These  scenes  are  taken 
in  broad  daylight,  but  before  you  are  privi- 
leged to  see  them  on  the  screen  they  are 
dipped  into  a  large  tank  containing  deep,  blue 
dye ;  that  does  the  trick. 

I  have,  before  now,  known  the  director  to 
give  himself  away  by  sheer  carelessness.  In 
one  photoplay,  for  instance,  I  spotted  a  lady 

113 


ii4       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

walking  along  with  her  sunshade  up.  Yet 
spectators  were  expected  to  believe  that  the 
action  took  place  in  the  middle  of  the  night. 

Another  phase  of  midnight  photography 
that  has  probably  puzzled  you  is  that  repre- 
senting moonlight  effects,  such  as  the  moon 
trying  to  hide  behind  the  clouds,  a  full  moon 
shining  over  a  silvery  sea.  The  plan  in  this 
case  is  to  take  the  picture  at  sunset.  After- 
wards a  small  round  piece  of  untransparent 
paper  is  carefully  stuck  on  to  the  negative 
film.     A  full  moon  is  invariably  the  result. 

But  now  it  is  apparent  that  the  death  knell 
of  faking  has  been  sounded,  for  the  difficult 
problem  of  night  cinematography  has  at  last 
been  solved. 

In  a  Bison  film  entitled  "The  Brand  of  his 
Tribe"  there  was  presented  a  camp  setting 
in  which  the  fire  cast  an  eerie  glow  over  the 
darkness.  There  were  also  excellent  sil- 
houettes of  the  players.  These  were  taken 
one  moonless  night,  the  middle  of  the  camp 
being  illuminated  with  a  strong  violet  flame 
for  just  two  minutes.  This  lighted  up  the 
surrounding  country  for  a  good  distance 
around. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        115 

A  second  example  was  "Stonewell  Jack- 
son's Way,"  a  civil  war  drama  by  Lubin.  In 
this  there  appeared  a  unique  battle — new  be- 
cause it  was  the  first  time  that  such  details 
were  presented  as  bombs  bursting  over  snow 
covered  fields,  with  intervals  of  blinding 
flashes  of  light,  while  balls  of  flame  were 
pouring  forth  from  the  discharging  cannon. 
Then,  too,  the  staccato  points  of  light  were 
the  result  of  artillery  action.  It  was  a  dandy 
fireworks  display. 

In  this  production  the  first  problem  was  to 
determine  the  composition  of  ammunition 
which  should  not  only  be  sufficiently  explosive 
but  produce  a  powerful  light  as  well.  Edgar 
Jones,  the  popular  actor-director,  had  to 
manufacture  a  special  kind  of  flashlight 
powder,  and  he  succeeded  after  many  experi- 
ments. 

On  a  wintery  night  when  it  was  pitch  dark 
the  man  at  the  switchboard  had  a  busy  time, 
for  it  was  his  duty  to  explode  three  thousand 
bombs.  These  were  manipulated  separately 
on  no  less  than  forty  thousand  feet  of  electric 
wiring. 

In  Imp's  "House  of  Fear,"  it  was  neces- 


u6       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

sary  for  the  hero  to  see  everything  that  took 
place  in  certain  portions  of  a  lonely  country 
mansion  from  outside  in  the  grounds  at  mid- 
night. This  was  made  possible  by  the  newly 
invented  Panchroma  Twin  Arc  Light.  Cun- 
ningly concealed  at  the  sides  of  each  front 
window  were  these  lamps,  which  positively 
escaped  detection  when  seen  on  the  screen. 
Each  of  the  lights  used  turned  the  scale  at 
nineteen  pounds,  including  the  rheostat. 
They  are  so  easily  portable  that  they  can  be 
operated  in  any  house,  providing  current  is 
available.  The  lamp  comprises  a  reflector 
and  two  powerful  arc  lights  and  the  carbons 
are  specially  prepared  to  ensure  the  colors 
being  produced  in  their  natural  hues. 

The  porch  lay  apparently  in  broad  moon- 
light, although  you  did  not  see  the  moon  it- 
self. Our  spasmodic  friend  would  not  oblige 
by  revealing  herself  on  this  occasion,  so  the 
requisite  beams  had  to  be  supplied  by  lamps 
installed  in  the  branches  of  a  tree  nearby. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

EXPLORING    BY   MOTION    PICTURES 

NOWADAYS  when  people  depart  on  an 
exploring  expedition  they  seldom  for- 
get to  take  a  motion  picture  outfit  with  them. 
The  reason  is  obvious,  for  they  are  then  in  a 
position  to  bring  back  permanent  records  of 
their  accomplishments.  In  the  past,  as  a 
rule,  they  returned  with  a  number  of  still 
photographs  and  then  set  to  work  to  write  a 
book,  illustrated  with  these.  Both  of  these 
records  have  their  good  points,  but  the  film 
goes  one  better.  That  visualises  the  whole 
undertaking,  which,  to  view,  is  next  best  to 
being  a  member  of  the  expedition. 

Such  pictures  likewise  possess  no  little  edu- 
cational value.  At  different  times  there 
have  been  exploring  pictures  from  hardly 
known  portions  of  South  America,  the  wilds 
of  Africa,  the  Arctic  and  the  Antarctic.  In- 
deed, there  are  very  few  places  on  this  globe 

117 


n8        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

that  have  not  yet  been  visited  by  the  motion 
picture  camera. 

Yet  there  still  remains  a  considerable 
amount  of  material  to  be  harvested.  The 
one  big  mistake  made  by  the  majority  is  that 
they  have  been  content  to  obtain  merely  a 
few  scenic  subjects. 

In  all  probability  the  cinematographer 
commenced  operations  by  touring  the  locality 
in  search  of  likely  copy.  A  week  or  so  later 
he  perhaps  returned  to  the  same  place  with 
the  intention  of  doing  the  filming,  but  by  this 
time  the  objects  that  had  appeared  novel  and 
interesting  appealed  to  him  as  nothing  out  of 
the  ordinary.  Thus,  the  very  matter  the 
outside  world  was  longing  to  see  was  lost. 
He  should  have  taken  the  pictures  as  he  went 
along,  in  which  case  the  new  things  would 
have  been  discovered,  invested  with  the 
charm  that  so  often  means  big  financial  re- 
ward to  an  enterprise  of  this  kind.  It  is 
the  human  interest  material  that  outshines 
the  rest  in  popularity  and  this  is  what,  in  my 
opinion,  has  been  neglected  down  to  date. 

The  explorer  who  decides  to  combine  cine- 
matography with  his  other  work — hobby  as 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        119 

he  no  doubt  regards  it — does  so  with  the  ob- 
ject of  recovering  his  travelling  expenses 
apart  from  adding  a  substantial  amount  to 
his  bank  account.  For  film  records  of  his 
big  game  hunting  tour  Cherry  Kearton  net- 
ted $50,000  altogether.  A  certain  Aus- 
tralian explorer  hunted  in  the  North  Pole 
icefields,  and,  thanks  to  the  motion  picture 
camera,  he  was  richer  by  $30,000. 

The  tastes  of  movie  fans  have  been  greatly 
misrepresented,  for,  although  we  naturally 
show  preference  for  the  ordinary  dramas 
and  comedies,  we  certainly  can  enjoy  a  really 
entertaining  educational  subject.  But  it  must 
be  good,  with  nothing  dry  or  didactic. 
Pictures  like  Paul  Rainey's  African  Hunt 
and  Captain  Scott's  Antarctic  Expedition  have 
had  long  runs,  both  in  New  York  and  Lon- 
don. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  actual  producing  of 
these  pictures.  Tropical  regions  give  the 
camera  man  the  greatest  trouble,  for,  unless 
he  is  very  careful,  his  stock  of  raw  film  will 
crumble  into  pieces  on  account  of  the  exces- 
sive heat.  He  must  also  develop  his  pro- 
duced film  on  the  spot,  for  the  climate  would 


120       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

rapidly  deteriorate  the  negatives.  This  is 
why,  when  Mr.  W.  H.  C.  Raymond  visited 
British  East  Africa,  with  the  object  of  filming 
life  in  the  jungle  and  native  customs  he  had 
no  alternative  but  to  burden  himself  with  ap- 
paratus, soda  and  chemicals,  weighing  hun- 
dreds of  pounds.  Fortunately,  however,  he 
was  successful  in  obtaining  285  natives  to 
carry  the  heavy  load  each  day  through  the 
bush. 

As  might  be  anticipated,  the  work  is  not 
unattended  with  dangers.  The  Franklin  B. 
Coates'  exploration  of  South  America  was 
marked  by  the  failure  to  get  the  wild  beasts 
to  pose  for  the  movie  camera.  Mr.  Coates 
was  therefore  obliged  to  go  after  them,  and 
lie  in  wait  for  them  with  a  live  bait  as  the 
lure.  After  spending  two  days  in  the  bush 
in  this  manner  his  patience  was  rewarded  by 
the  appearance  of  a  tiger.  He  had  not  been 
long  turning  the  handle  of  the  camera  when 
the  beast  made  a  beeline  for  him.  Mr. 
Coates  shot  the  big  cat  fatally  before  his  leap 
could  be  completed. 

Another  time  this  American  was  lucky 
enough  to  film  a  big  boa  ten  feet  from  the 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        121 

camera.  The  serpent,  on  hearing  the  click- 
ing noise  of  the  camera,  grew  excited  and  it 
was  thought  advisable  to  kill  him  before  he 
did  any  harm. 

Before  now  operators  had  been  killed  in 
this  very  same  game.  Far  more  than  the 
average  amount  of  patience  is  needed  for  this 
work,  where  practically  everything  is  done  on 
chance. 

Paul  Rainey,  the  famous  American  mil- 
lionaire sportsman,  was  mainly  responsible 
for  the  African  Hunt  pictures.  The  best 
scenes  were  those  taken  around  a  waterhole. 
On  and  off,  six  weeks  were  occupied  in  ob- 
taining the  film.  At  one  stage  he  was 
perched  for  three  whole  days  on  a  branch  of 
a  tree  while  the  animals  came  and  went  below 
him. 

Anyway,  fortune  favored  him,  for  it  was 
at  a  time  of  great  drought  and  none  of  the 
animals  showed  any  animosity  toward  any 
other.  In  the  film  are  seen  baboons,  eland, 
zebras,  timid  giraffes,  elephants,  rhinoceri 
and  lions,  all  drinking  together  as  peacefully 
as  lambs. 

A  widely  used  device  is  a  dummy  animal, 


122        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

in  which  there  is  room  for  the  motion  pic- 
ture photographer  to  carry  on  his  work. 
The  contrivance  is  so  clever  that  it  deceives 
Nature's  creatures  entirely,  only  the  clicking 
of  the  movie  machine  giving  the  game  away. 
This  the  resourceful  operator  overcomes  by 
having  a  motor  at  work  for  a  fortnight,  by 
the  end  of  which  time  the  wild  animals  grow 
accustomed  to  the  noise.  Here,  again,  the 
photographer  must  reconcile  himself  to  weary 
waits  in  order  to  study  the  habits  of  his  sub- 
jects. But  there  is  no  other  way  to  secure 
films  so  perfectly  true  to  nature,  and  results, 
therefore,  justify  the  trouble  involved. 

The  denizens  of  the  jungle,  as  is  com- 
monly known,  have  a  strong  sense  of  smell, 
and  to  mislead  the  beasts,  it  is  necessary  for 
the  traveling  cinematographer  to  smother 
his  body  with  some  vile  smelling  liquid. 

The  natives  frequently  present  another 
difficulty.  Once  some  native  thieves  in  Cen- 
tral Africa  smashed  a  motion  picture  ma- 
chine to  atoms,  in  their  belief  that  it  con- 
tained valuables. 

Even  in  colder  climes,  like  the  Arctic  and 
Antarctic  regions,  the  work  is  equally  hard. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        123 

The  climatic  conditions  render  film  taking 
very  difficult  and  perilous.  Nevertheless 
there  have  been  some  excellent  pictures  from 
both  ends  of  the  globe  at  different  times,  the 
most  extensive  collection  having  been  ob- 
tained by  Mr.  Ponting  of  the  ill-fated  Scott 
Antarctic  Expedition.  Had  he  not  been 
hampered  with  the  heavy  apparatus,  he 
would  have  accompanied  the  unfortunate 
Southern  party  in  their  final  dash.  As  it  was 
he  came  back  with  some  remarkable  records 
which  deserve  to  be  preserved  at  a  museum. 
All  pictures  with  a  permanent  value  should  be 
treasured  for  posterity's  sake  for,  by  the 
magic  film,  the  dead,  past  events  and  accom- 
plishments can  be  brought  back  to  life 
again. 

The  motion  picture  has  undoubtedly  suc- 
ceeded in  affording  us  an  insight  into  life  and 
lands  we  hitherto  knew  little  about. 

And  it  will  continue  to  do  so  until  every 
particle  of  the  world  shall  have  come  under 
its  ever  eager  eye. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


HOW  MICROBES  AND  INSECTS  ARE  "CAP- 
TURED"    FOR   MOTION    PICTURES 


WHO  has  not  marvelled  at  the  films 
often  seen  at  the  better  class  of  mo- 
tion picture  theaters,  in  particular  the  films 
revealing  some  of  the  hidden  secrets  of  na- 
ture,— laying  open  the  activities  of  microbe 
and  insect  life?  Films  of  this  sort  are  as 
genuinely  entertaining  as  comedy  or  drama. 
It  is  easy  for  some  learned  professor  to 
write  a  book  on  insect  life,  but  the  man  from 
Missouri  spirit  is  deep  within  us,  and  when 
we  can  be  shown  these  things  we  find  them 
doubly  interesting.  In  saying  this  I  do  not 
infer  that  books  are  of  no  use.  That  is  for- 
eign to  my  thought.  They  undoubtedly  add 
to  our  store  of  knowledge,  but  when  we  can 
see  the  things  before  our  own  eyes  we  come 
to  a  fuller  understanding  of  the  subject  pre- 
sented. 

Professors  find  that  writing  books  or  de- 

124 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        125 

livering  lectures  as  the  outcome  of  their  per- 
sonal observations  and  experiments  are  easy 
tasks  in  comparison  with  getting  microbes, 
germs  and  insects  to  pose  specially  for  the 
motion  picture  camera. 

The  leading  worker  in  this  end  of  the  film 
industry  in  America  is  Professor  Raymond  L. 
Ditmars,  Curator  of  Reptiles  at  the  New 
York  Zoological  Park.  His  great  film, 
"The  Book  of  Nature,"  has  commanded 
widespread  attention,  and  deservedly,  too. 

But  let  us  begin  at  the  bottom  of  the  lad- 
der and  commence  with  films  dealing  with 
germs  and  microbes.  These,  in  a  disinter- 
ested kind  of  way,  tell  us  to  be  on  the  lookout 
for  diseases.  They  are  so  realistic  that  they 
are  often  used  by  surgeons  and  physicians  to 
assist  them  in  their  work,  thus  serving  a  two- 
fold purpose. 

Well,  the  question  is :  how  does  the  modern 
wizard — the  motion  picture  producer — "cap- 
ture" them  when  we  ordinary  mortals  are  de- 
nied seeing  them? 

To  satisfy  your  natural  curiosity,  I  may 
say  right  now  that  the  lens  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture camera  is  focussed  through  a  microscope 


126       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

which  magnifies  objects  from  two  thousand 
to  seven-six  million  times.  The  French  com- 
panies who  make  a  specialty  of  the  work 
have  fully  equipped  laboratories  in  which 
trained  scientists  prepare  subjects  for  the  film. 
Their  work  necessitates  plenty  of  research, 
while  much  patience  is  involved  in  taking  the 
films  themselves. 

The  most  exasperating  thing  about  germs 
and  microbes  is  that  they  persist  in  moving 
about  in  groups  and  have  no  respect  for  the 
limited  area  covered  by  the  camera's  lens. 

The  photographer,  to  avoid  this,  generally 
contrives  to  have  them  appear  against  a  black 
background.  The  light  at  the  sides  is  of  two 
thousand  candle  power  and  this  is  of  only  just 
sufficient  strength  for  photographic  purposes. 
To  make  it  stronger  would  kill  all  of  the  ob- 
jects. The  rays  of  this  light  are  conveyed  to 
the  lens  of  the  microscope. 

It  is  extremely  hard  to  catch  a  spider  in  the 
act  of  weaving  a  web,  so  when  the  producer 
locates  a  suitable  female  he  places  her  for  a 
few  days  in  a  specially  constructed  box, 
painted  black.  That  period  suffices  to  get 
her  used   to   her   surroundings.     When   her 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        127 

young  have  been  hatched  she  guards  her 
nursery.  This  is  the  time  for  the  director  to 
wreck  her  painstaking  work.  The  mother 
plainly  shows  her  grief,  and  to  comfort  her 
frantic  babies  she  commences  to  weave  an 
even  better  web.  During  all  the  time  she  is 
working  so  industriously,  the  camera  is  only 
a  few  inches  away,  recording  her  actions  for 
the  benefit  of  the  outside  world. 

Ants  make  bad  motion  picture  actors,  for 
they  are  so  intent  upon  having  their  own  way 
that  they  refuse  to  do  things  naturally  when 
they  spot  the  camera  at  work.  This  is  at- 
tributed to  their  high  degree  of  intelligence. 
The  director  has  to  track  them  unawares  to 
one  of  their  tiny  hills.  Here  he  places  a 
throbbing  motor  engine.  A  few  days  of  this 
serves  to  put  them  off  their  guard,  when  the 
motor  is  used  to  turn  the  crank  of  the  camera. 
They  then  pay  no  attention  to  the  perpetual 
clicking. 

Once  a  producer  tested  whether  grasshop- 
pers were  emotional  or  not.  He  proved  that 
they  were  when  listening  to  the  strains  of 
ragtime,  for  one  was  so  deeply  affected  that 
he  fell  ill  and  died. 


i28        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

Professor  Ditmars  once  attempted  to  show 
the    Katydid's   peculiar   method   of   singing. 

>  realise  the  difficulties  which  he  had  to 
combat,  it  must  be  understood  that  this  insect 
only  indulges  in  music  at  night,  that  if  he  sees 
a  light,  his  song  ceases  right  then. 

This  difficult  problem  was  solved  by  free- 
ing a  score  or  more  katydids  in  a  group  of 
oak  trees.  The  camera  was  then  placed  on 
a  tall  tripod  and  equipped  with  a  long 
focussed  lens.  It  was  therefore  compara- 
tively easy  to  concentrate  filming  operations 
on  a  low  hanging  branch  of  the  middle  tree 
from  a  good  distance  away. 

The  insect,  however  keen  detective  he  was, 
couldn't  detect  the  operator,  for  the  crank 
was  turned  by  a  distant  motor  engine. 

Ah  !  What  about  the  light  ?  The  camera 
man  used  a  powerful  searchlight  focussed  on 
the  spreading  branches  of  the  tree. 

The  wisdom  of  distributing  a  group  of  the 
insects  in  the  trees  was  then  shown,  for  those 
in  darkness  sang  lustily. 

The  king  of  all,  upon  whom  the  whole  re- 
sults depended,  hesitated  as  to  the  course  he 
should    pursue.     Evidently    his    companions 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        129 

prompted  him  to  sing  under  the  limelight,  for 
before  long  his  wings  moved  in  musical  order 
and  the  ''Katydid,  katydid"  chorus  was  duly 
recorded.  The  pity  was  that  the  notes  could 
not  be  heard  by  those  who  saw  the  film,  but 
to  SEE  one  sing  was  a  privilege  indeed. 

Fancy  filming  a  dragon  fly  in  full  flight! 
Impossible,  you  will  assert,  but  a  French  in- 
vention, the  electro-stero-chronophotograph, 
has  rendered  it  an  accomplished  reality. 
Motion  pictures,  in  the  ordinary  way,  are 
taken  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  per  second,  but  by 
this  device  the  rate  was  increased  to  two 
thousand  on  one  occasion. 

The  camera  man  let  the  flies  undertake  the 
actual  filming  on  their  own  account,  a  shut- 
ter contrivance  making  the  feat  possible. 

It  was  imperative  to  gauge  the  speed  of 
flight,  so  a  tuning  fork  which  doubly  vibrated 
fifty  times  per  second  was  employed.  Each 
double  vibration  set  a  magnetic  signal  in  mo- 
tion, so  all  the  photographer  had  to  do  to  de- 
tect the  speed  of  flight  was  to  total  up  the 
pictures  taken  during  each  double  vibration  of 
the  fork. 

Underwater  insects  have  also  been  filmed. 


i3o       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

These  are  usually  captured  by  placing  an  ob- 
servation chamber  in  a  pond  or  river.  The 
top  of  this  projects  a  trifle  above  the  surface 
and  the  operator  enters  the  chamber.  After 
this  he  sees  that  the  top  is  covered  so  that  the 
light  is  prevented  from  entering.  He  then 
places  his  camera  against  the  plate  glass  win- 
dow at  the  side. 

The  insects,  by  this  device,  are  completely 
thrown  off  their  guard,  for  they  see  nothing 
but  a  black  patch,  and  the  cinematographer, 
therefore,  gets  pictures  that  are  perfectly  nat- 
ural. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE    OBSTACLES    ENCOUNTERED    IN 
FILMING   ROYALTIES 

THE  animated  newspaperman  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons.  Naturally,  over  in 
Europe,  the  greatest  scoop  he  can  secure  is  a 
rattling  good  picture  of  an  event  in  which 
royalty  has  participated.  It  is  no  ordinary 
proposition,  for  barriers  which  are  practi- 
cally non-existent  on  other  occasions  soon  be- 
gin to  present  themselves. 

Royalties  are  like  gold — precious — and 
this  being  the  case  they  have  to  be  zealously 
guarded.  How  are  the  authorities  to  know 
that  the  motion  picture  camera  and  the  man 
operating  it  from  a  prominent  position  are 
not  a  cloak  for  some  outrage?  False  cre- 
dentials have  been  used  before  now  to  gain 
some  object. 

British  royalty  probably  enjoys  more  free- 
dom than  that  of  any  other  nation,  though 
this  is  not  to  say  that  due  precautions  are  not 

131 


132        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

taken.  When  a  royal  procession  or  an  event 
in  which  royalty  takes  part  is  held,  the  route 
they  intend  traversing  is  generally  announced 
beforehand.  This  affords  the  cinematog- 
rapher  scope  to  select  the  best  position.  But 
other  operators  employed  by  other  producers 
are  doing  the  same  thing,  so  he  and  the  com- 
petition is  keen.  I  have  known  instances — 
and  they  are  by  no  means  rare — in  which 
crank  turners  have  made  a  rough  and  ready 
sleeping  place  of  the  best  position  they  have 
discovered  and  mounted  guard  over  this  all 
night  with  their  trustworthy  camera  so  as  to 
be  on  the  spot  the  next  day.  Then  when  the 
policeman  comes  around,  they  have  to  get  an 
O.  K.  on  their  credentials. 

When  the  King  and  Queen  attended  an  im- 
portant horse-race,  it  was  rumored  that  the 
militant  suffragettes  would  make  an  attack 
on  the  Royal  automobile,  so  every  suspicious 
character  was  kept  out  of  the  way.  The 
police  even  forbade  cinematographers  to  be 
in  attendance.  The  latter  fact  got  to  the  ears 
of  King  George,  who  forthwith  had  the  ban 
removed,  for  he  is  an  ardent  admirer  of  the 
motion  picture  and  realises  that  the  camera 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        133 

men  perform  a  public  service.  If  questioned, 
he  would  no  doubt  figure  it  out  in  this  way: 
"Only  a  few  thousands  of  the  millions  of  my 
countrymen  throughout  the  world  can  see  the 
part  I  play  in  this  event,  but  a  motion  picture 
can  convey  it  to  all  my  loyal  subjects,  whether 
they  reside  in  Scotland  or  Australia.  It  is, 
in  fact,  next  to  seeing  the  thing." 

In  Germany,  red  tape  is  a  greater  evil. 
The  operators  are  asked  the  most  searching 
questions  by  the  authorities  and  have  to  make 
the  best  they  can  of  the  position,  which  is  sel- 
dom satisfactory,  allotted  to  them.  They 
also  have  to  promise  not  to  export  the  film 
without  submitting  it  to  be  deleted  of  mili- 
tary information  of  any  value  to  a  foreign 
power.  These  rules  were  in  force  before  the 
war,  but  what  they  must  be  like  now  is  some- 
thing to  conjecture. 

The  films  taken  under  such  conditions  are 
not  even  allowed  to  be  shown  in  their  un- 
altered state  in  the  Fatherland,  for  a  certain 
film  company  unknowingly  infringed  the  rule. 
The  picture  which  caused  all  the  trouble  de- 
picted the  entry  of  the  Emperor  William's 
daughter  and  finance  into  Berlin.     This  was 


i34       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

put  on  at  the  Berlin  movie  shows  on  the  same 
evening  and  the  police  intervened  and  con- 
fiscated all  the  copies  in  circulation.  It  really 
makes  me  wonder  whether  some  of  our  high 
and  mighty  censor  boards  are  imitating  the 
foolish  German  method. 

Russia  has  long  been  recognised  as  a  coun- 
try where  the  iron  rule  is  felt  in  all  things. 
Such  has  proved  the  case  with  the  motion  pic- 
ture. The  Czar  evidently  values  his  dignity 
highly,  for  the  masses  of  the  nation  have  al- 
ways been  kept  at  a  safe  distance  on  his  ap- 
pearances in  public. 

Although  the  cinematographers  are  now 
more  greatly  restricted  than  was  the  case  in 
the  past,  I  do  know  that  when  a  monument 
was  erected  to  the  memory  of  Alexander 
III  in  Moscow,  a  dauntless  operator  suc- 
ceeded in  filming  the  Imperial  Family  at  as 
close  a  distance  as  three  yards — a  feat  which 
has  never  before  been  accomplished  at  a  Rus- 
sian official  ceremony. 

It  has  now  been  discovered  that  motion 
pictures  of  these  events  tend  to  place  the  Em- 
peror on  quite  intimate  terms  with  his  sub- 
jects. 


•       MAKING  THE  MOVIES        135 

The  Russian  Ministry  of  the  Interior  has 
taken  action  by  laying  down  new  rules  for  the 
showing  of  films  of  this  class.  To  begin  with, 
each  film  must  be  seen  by  the  Court  Minis- 
ter before  it  can  be  publicly  displayed.  If 
it  passes  him,  the  theaters  running  it  are  not 
permitted  to  play  music,  not  even  the  National 
Anthem,  while  it  occupies  the  screen.  Next, 
it  has  to  be  announced  on  the  program  as  a 
special  item.  Thirdly,  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  other  pictures,  a  curtain  must  be  lowered 
beforehand  and  go  up  when  the  film  comes 
on,  the  process  being  repeated  at  the  con- 
clusion. Rules  like  these  would  drive  an 
American  exhibitor — or  any  American  for 
that  matter,  with  a  positive  dislike  for  for- 
mality— to  distraction. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

FLORICULTURE    BY   MOTION    PICTURES 

YOU  may  exclaim,  on  glancing  at  this  title, 
"What  have  motion  pictures  to  do  with 
floriculture  ?"  Let  me  say  here  that  the  bene- 
fit is  mutual  that  they  should  be  allied  in  the 
way  they  are  and  are  going  to  be. 

Probably,  at  some  time  or  other,  when  you 
have  visited  a  photoplay  theater,  there  has 
been  a  film  on  the  program  of  the  educational 
order.  As  you  saw  the  speeding  up  in  the 
growth  of  a  plant  you  wondered  whether  you 
were  really  dreaming.  For  if  crops  could  be 
raised  at  such  a  hustling  pace,  any  grower 
should  be  able  to  retire  from  business  af- 
fluent in  short  order. 

To  see  the  whole  life  of  a  plant  on  the 
magic  screen  within  the  space  of  five  minutes 
or  so  is  nothing  short  of  marvellous,  because 
Dame  Nature  never  permits  herself  to  be  re- 
vealed   at    work.     How    is    it    done,    then? 

136 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        137 

Surely  the  whole  thing  is  a  sham.  Not  at  all. 
believe  me. 

A  motion  picture  director,  on  selecting  a 
flower  to  picturise,  say  from  seed  to  blossom, 
begins  at  the  right  season,  with  special  lens 
attached  to  the  camera.  The  seed  is  first 
sown  in  a  transparent  pot  so  that  the  roots  can 
also  be  filmed.  When  it  has  developed  into 
a  sturdy  seedling,  suitable  quarters  are  found 
into  which  it  is  transplanted.  From  the  time 
the  seed  germinates,  the  motion  picture 
machine  photographs  its  growth  at  fifteen  in- 
tervals during  the  day  until  the  subject  is 
completed.  When  the  finished  film  is  pruned 
down  to  a  market  length  and  explanatory  mat- 
ter added,  it  appears  that  the  film  magician 
has  stolen  a  march  on  Nature  with  a  ven- 
geance. It  is  the  showing  of  these  separately 
taken  pictures  in  rapid  succession  that  gives 
the  perfect  illusion.  There  is  a  film  now 
showing  that  displays  how  plants  are  attracted 
by  light  and  turn  away  from  dark  places.  As 
you  can  appreciate,  the  work  involves  an 
enormous  amount  of  patience  and  failures  are 
by  no  means  unknown. 

The   French  producing  concerns  make   a 


138        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

specialty  of  this  class  of  motion  pictures. 
They  produce  them  for  the  good  of  the  cause 
of  cinematography  rather  than  in  hopes  of 
financial  gain,  for,  as  yet,  educationals  are  not 
a  particularly  paying  proposition.  This  ex- 
plains why  our  producers  present  them  only 
now  and  then. 

To  obtain  the  fullest  worth  out  of  movies 
of  this  sort  the  plants  must  be  reproduced  in 
their  natural  colors.  There  are  certain 
processes  whereby  the  colors  are  painted  in 
by  a  stencil  process  afterwards.  This  is  not 
a  true-to-life  method,  for  the  tints  are  liable 
to  run  into  each  other  and  may  not  be  of  the 
correct  shade. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

WHAT  MOVIE   CAMERA  OPERATORS   HAVE 

TO    UNDERGO 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  written  on  the  ex- 
citing experiences  of  picture  artists,  but 
little  is  known  as  to  the  perils  faced  by  that 
small  body  of  men  who  grind  out  pictures. 

Some  time  ago  the  British  and  Colonial 
Company  sent  Mr.  Fred  Burlingham,  their 
camera  man,  over  to  Switzerland  for  the  pur- 
pose of  filming  the  Alps.  All  went  well  un- 
til he  commenced  photographing  the  Giant 
Plough  at  work  on  the  Bernina  Pass.  To  ob- 
tain good  views,  the  motion  picture  machine 
stood  in  the  track  of  the  Plough.  Mr.  Bur- 
lingham took  the  precaution  to  make  arrange- 
ments with  the  engineers  to  stop  the  Plough 
a  short  distance  in  front  of  him.  Instead  of 
doing  so,  the  B.  &  C,  to  the  horror  of  the 
operator,  drove  it  almost  over  him,  and 
it  was  only  by  quickly  leaping  aside  that  he 

139 


i4o       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

managed  to  throw  himself  against  the  walls 
of  the  pass  as  the  machine  steamed  by.  His 
body  was  badly  bruised,  while  the  camera 
was  smashed  to  atoms.  It  transpired  later 
that  the  engineers  could  not  see  him  on  ac- 
count of  the  fact  that  they  had  been  blinded 
by  the  snow. 

FILMING   THE    MATTERHORN 

Another  adventure  occurred  to  Mr.  Bur- 
lingham  when  he  filmed  the  Matterhorn  at 
the  dizzy  height  of  14,000  feet.  It  was  done 
at  the  point  from  which  Lord  Francis  Doug- 
las and  three  more  of  the  party  fell  in  1865  to 
their  death.  While  the  camera  man  pro- 
ceeded with  the  filming,  he  had  a  man  below 
hold  his  legs,  which  enabled  him  to  maintain 
his  balance. 

The  American  Company  once  took  some 
scenic  films  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Water 
buffalo  are  there  used  as  draft  beasts  in  the 
rice  fields,  being  the  only  animals  that  can 
travel  through  the  heavy  muck.  The  camera 
operator  had  just  started  taking  the  film  when 
a  buffalo  charged  him.  He  had  to  dodge  as 
best  he  could  behind  the  camera  and  managed 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        141 

to  evade  the  animal  until  a  native  came  and 
rescued  him,  thoroughly  exhausted  after  leap- 
ing about  in  the  ankle-deep  mud. 

Pictures  with  explosions  in  them  are  the 
terror  of  camera  men.  Mr.  Albert  Heimerl, 
of  the  American  Company,  confesses  that  he 
never  came  closer  to  his  death  than  he  did  on 
one  occasion  in  which  he  was  filming  a  scene 
of  this  sort.  Both  he  and  the  camera  were 
protected  by  a  temporary  shelter.  One  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  away  from  him  were  one 
hundred  pounds  of  black  gunpowder  and 
thirty  sticks  of  dynamite.  Calculations  went 
wrong,  as  the  explosives  proved  too  much  at 
such  a  short  distance  away.  The  top  of  the 
shelter  was  struck  by  a  three  hundred  pound 
boulder,  the  camera  was  smashed,  and  the 
operator  buried  under  the  debris.  He  was 
unconscious  when  extricated,  and  could  not  be 
up  and  about  for  several  weeks  after. 

ACTING   THAT   WAS    NOT   WANTED 

On  the  Kalem  Company's  last  visit  to  the 
Holy  Land,  the  camera  man  found  himself 
in  danger.  He  was  filming  a  scene  in  the  des- 
ert near  Luxor.     Suddenly  a  gang  of  evil- 


i42        MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

visaged  Bedouin  warriors  appeared,  and  eyed 
the  camera  with  great  curiosity,  not  having 
seen  one  before.  But  the  chief  was  an  ex- 
ception, for  he  proudly  stated  that  it  was  his 
will  and  pleasure  to  pose  before  it.  Not  con- 
tent with  that  lordable  ambition,  he  wanted 
to  appear  in  the  scene  in  the  part  of  one  of 
Kalem's  "stars"  whom  he  had  seen  acting  as 
he  entered.  It  was  useless  to  expostulate,  as 
the  manner  of  the  Sheik  and  his  followers  be- 
came very  threatening,  so  they  humoured  him. 
When  he  was  ready,  the  camera  man 
turned  the  handle  of  the  machine,  then  the 
chief  strutted  and  postured  before  the  camera 
like  a  Turkey  cock.  The  funny  part  about  it 
was  that  the  apparatus  contained  no  film  to 
record  his  efforts  for  posterity's  sake ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

TAKING   THE   ANIMATED    NEWSPAPER 

THE  camera  man  whom  I  am  now  go- 
ing to  report  has  had  European  ex- 
perience in  addition  to  American;  he  is  now 
a  "star"  man  on  one  of  our  animated  news- 
papers. 

"People  tell  me  that  mine  is  an  easy  job, 
with  nothing  to  do  but  turn  the  handle  of  the 
camera,"  he  remarked  to  me  recently.  "Let 
them  spend  a  week  with  me  and  they  would 
get  an  entirely  different  impression. 

"I  remember  my  first  commission  as  though 
it  were  yesterday.  It  was  to  film  an  impor- 
tant baseball  match,  and  to  obtain  some  good 
photographs  I  placed  my  machine  right  in 
front  of  some  fans,  thereby  obstructing  their 
view.  They  first  began  passing  uncompli- 
mentary remarks  and  I  was  foolish  enough  to 
argue  with  them.  Before  I  could  grasp  what 
was  happening,  handfuls  of  mud  and  the  like 

143 


i44       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

were  thrown  at  me  and  soon  I  was  smothered; 
then  I  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 

"On  returning  later  for  my  camera  I  found 
it  smashed  beyond  recognition.  This  lesson 
taught  me  to  move  away  to  another  pitch  as- 
soon  as  a  crowd  shows  the  least  sign  of  anger. 

UA  balloon  ascent  was  my  next  eventful 
time.  My  orders  were  to  go  up  in  the  bal- 
loon to  take  some  scenes  in  mid-air.  Well, 
I  did,  but  the  wind  was  so  strong  that  it 
blew  us  against  a  tall  tree  in  a  field.  The  col- 
lision was  so  violent  that  it  nearly  tore  off  one 
of  my  lingers;  the  gas  envelope  burst  and  we 
descended  to  earth  at  a  rapid  pace.  For  the 
next  few  days  some  one  had  to  take  my  place, 
so  indisposed  I  was. 

"Once  an  important  event  at  a  big  factory 
sent  me  there  on  business.  I  thought  it  was 
going  to  be  a  'tame*  affair,  but  it  proved  not 
so.  The  workmen  angrily  protested  against 
my  filming  them,  giving  as  a  reason  that  they 
were  made  a  laughing  stock  by  their  friends 
when  they  had  been  seen  on  the  screen  before. 
To  miss  this  event  would  have  cost  me  my 
job,  so  I  defied  them.  I  only  piled  up  the 
trouble,  for  the  men  immediately  threw  down 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        145 

their  tools  and  went  on  strike.  The  rage  of 
the  boss  knew  no  bounds,  but  the  strike  scenes 
I  secured  were  well  worth  it. 

"Now  to  proceed  to  some  of  my  experiences 
in  England.  You  have  no  idea  of  the  com- 
petition that  exists  among  us  cinematog- 
raphers.  Do  you  know  that  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Royal  visit  to  Henley  I  lived  the  night 
before  in  a  canoe  on  the  river  in  order  that  I 
should  get  the  best  position  by  the  Royal 
pavilion?  I  have  also  slept  on  Epsom 
Downs  so  as  to  be  in  readiness  to  obtain  some 
typical  early  morning  scenes  as  soon  as  Derby 
Day  dawned. 

"Like  our  newspaper  brothers,  we  camera 
men  have  to  hustle.  The  taking  of  the 
Derby  film — England's  classic  race — will  give 
you  a  good  idea  of  the  hurried  nature  of  our 
work.  I  am  stationed  by  the  winning  post 
and  I  record  the  actions  of  the  horses  as  they 
stampede  past.  I  then  gather  up  the  camera 
and  tripod  as  fast  as  I  can  and  dash  off  to  the 
waiting  auto  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  It  is 
no  easy  work  to  push  through  crowds,  espe- 
cially when  burdened  by  a  heavy  camera. 

"All  my  companions  are  waiting  for  me 


i46       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

and  we  are  off  in  a  jiffy.  Fortunately  there 
is  not  much  traffic  to  hinder  us  going  back  and 
we  make  the  twelve  mile  journey  to  our  Lon- 
don works  in  less  than  an  hour.  We  then 
dash  up  to  the  dark  room,  where  we  speedily 
develop  our  negatives  and  are  spared  the  re- 
maining processes.  When  I  walk  into  the 
local  movie  theater  three  quarters  of  an  hour 
later  and  see  people  enjoying  my  work  on  the 
screen,  I  feel  mightily  pleased,  I  can  tell  you. 
"So  you  see,  our  work  is  not  child's  play." 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

MAKING   CARTOONS    FOR   THE    MOVIES 

THE  secret  of  the  making  of  the  movie 
cartoon  has  seldom  been  divulged,  for 
the  producers  have  objected  to  its  becoming 
known  on  the  grounds  that  their  competitors 
would  imitate  a  special  and  particular  process. 
This,  and  this  only,  is  the  reason  for  official 
silence  on  this  matter. 

Those  who  have  come  forward  with  solu- 
tions of  the  mystery  say  that  the  drawings  are 
thrown  on  a  silhouette  screen,  another  camera 
being  used  to  film  them. 

Number  two  discovery  is  that  a  mannikin 
is  used,  manipulated  by  invisible  strings. 

Yet  another  asserts  that  moving  cardboard 
figures  are  photographed. 

It  so  happens,  however,  that  none  of  these 
solutions  is  correct.  How,  then,  are  the  car- 
toons made?     Let  me  tell  you  that  there  are 

i47 


148       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

different  processes  adopted  by  the  various 
studios. 

You  are,  of  course,  familiar  with  the  Colo- 
nel Heeza  Lair  series,  released  under  the 
Pathe  banner.  The  creator  of  this  series  is 
J.  R.  Bray,  a  newspaper  artist  of  note.  His 
is  a  patented  process  which  has  been  imitated 
by  other  motion  picture  cartoonists. 

Mr.  Bray  experimented  for  several  years 
before  he  invented  his  speeding  up  process 
and  he  now  works  with  the  assistance  of  a 
talented  corps  of  artists. 

Before  a  single  reel,  one  thousand  feet,  is 
completed,  Mr.  Bray  has  to  sketch  between 
four  and  five  thousand  outline  drawings  on 
tracing  paper.  These  are  then  inked  in  by 
four  artists,  after  which  a  week  is  consumed 
in  photographing  them.  To  make  even  one 
error  with  the  pen  would  ruin  the  whole  film, 
so  all  have  to  take  great  pains  over  the  ex- 
acting work.  The  drawings,  when  seen  on 
the  screen,  have  also  been  enlarged  twenty- 
five  times  since  they  were  executed  by  the 
artists. 

The  method  followed  by  most  studios  is  to 
draw  each  "move"  on  cardboard,  and  then 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        149 

place  the  boards  together  one  by  one.  After 
this  they  are  separately  photographed.  It  is 
the  showing  of  these  in  rapid  succession  that 
gives  action  to  the  cartoons. 

But  the  plan  is  so  tedious  that  the  prepara- 
tion of  each  drawing  occupies  upwards  of 
twenty  minutes,  hence  the  reason  why  the  out- 
putof  one  cartoonist  seldom  exceeds  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  weekly.  There  is  also  a 
considerable  amount  of  time  consumed  in 
planning  out  a  subject. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

TAKING   FILMS    UNDER   THE   SEA 

THE  Williamson  Submarine  motion  pic- 
ture invention  has  conquered  a  region 
to  which  the  cinematographer  did  not  previ- 
ously have  access  to.  I  admit  there  have 
been  pictures,  ostensibly  taken  under  the  sea, 
but  these  pictures  were  deliberate  fakes.  In 
a  recent  nautical  drama  I  saw  two  divers  fight- 
ing for  life  for  sunken  wealth  on  the  ocean's 
bed.  The  deceiving  feature  about  it  was  that 
the  divers  went  down  from  a  boat  on  the  real 
sea.  But  between  the  filming  of  the  scenes 
above  and  those  underwater,  an  interval  of 
several  days  occurred.  Expert  divers  were 
hired  for  the  former  work,  the  latter  being 
left  in  the  hands  of  the  actors.  Some  film 
producers  have  a  glass  tank  lake  in  their 
studio  so  that  they  can  put  on  such  spectacular 

scenes. 

150 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       151 

The  first  film  produced  by  the  Williamson 
Brothers  was  in  five  reels.  It  depicted  coral 
reefs,  peculiar  fish  and  marine  forests  in  the 
region  between  Nassau  and  Watling's  Island. 
Native  boys  were  also  shown  diving  and 
swimming  under  water  in  search  of  coins 
thrown  to  them  by  passengers  on  the  ship. 
J.  Ernest  Williamson,  the  inventor,  engaged 
in  a  fierce  fight  with  a  man-eating  shark,  with 
a  knife  as  his  only  weapon.  Both  he  and  the 
camera  man,  Carl  Gregory,  nearly  lost  their 
lives,  for  the  animal  was  despatched  just  as 
he  was  making  a  terrific  drive  for  the  glass- 
enclosed  photographic  chamber. 

The  maximum  depth  at  which  the  sub- 
marine tube  invention  can  be  safely  used  is 
one  thousand  feet.  The  steel  tube  is  wide 
enough  for  two  men  to  pass  each  other  while 
ascending  or  descending,  and  water  is  kept 
out  by  an  inner  covering  of  rubberised  cloth. 
Air  is  pumped  down,  allowing  the  operator  to 
work  for  hours  at  a  stretch.  The  photo- 
graphic chamber  is  at  the  end  of  the  tube. 
This  is  hollow  and  is  made  of  steel,  and  is 
five  feet  in  diameter.  Reaching  out  from  the 
chamber  is  a  steel  funnel  whose  outer  end  is 


1 52       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

closed  with  a  sheet  of  glass,  five  and  a  half 
feet  in  diameter,  and  two  inches  thick. 

It  has  been  discovered  that  the  further 
down  the  pictures  are  taken  the  more  pre- 
caution is  necessary  against  the  enormous 
pressure  of  water  on  both  sides.  This  is 
managed  by  closing  the  inner  end  of  the  fun- 
nel with  a  steel  door,  into  which  two  glass 
ports  are  fitted.  These  #two  glass  ports  are 
three  inches  in  diameter,  the  top  one  being 
for  observation  purposes,  and  the  bottom  one 
for  focussing  the  camera.  As  a  further 
guard,  a  sufficient  amount  of  compressed  air 
is  pumped  into  the  funnel,  between  the  outer 
glass  and  the  inner  door  to  balance  the  water 
pressure  from  outside.  The  camera  man  is 
pretty  well  protected  against  the  unexpected, 
for  there  is  a  small  steel  shutter  which  blocks 
out  the  two  port  holes.  So  if  the  outer  glass 
broke,  the  operator  would  be  perfectly  safe. 

The  pictures  taken  by  this  method  are  not 
marred  by  bad  photography,  for  there  is 
a  lighting  device  which  makes  it  possible  to 
obtain  clear  views  at  depths  and  in  places 
where  there  would  not  be  sufficient  daylight. 
A  wire  connected  with  an  electric  battery  on 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       153 

the  ship  is  lowered  above  the  photographic 
chamber.  At  the  end  of  the  fuse  is  a  metal 
submarine  globe  containing  eight  mercury 
vapor  lamps  which  have  a  twenty  thousand 
candle  capacity. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE    MOVIE    SOLDIER   AND    HIS   WORK 

LIKE  his  brother  in  real  life  who  has  to 
face  death  without  flinching,  the  picture 
soldier  is  a  man  we  really  cannot  do  without. 
True  enough  he  is  the  bane  of  the  director's 
existence,  and  there  is  nothing  more  harassing 
to  him  than  having  to  get  his  men  into  fight- 
ing trim.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  such  a  motley 
crew  that  plenty  of  patience  must  be  the  virtue 
of  the  "knight  in  command." 

The  producer  is  as  happy  as  an  angel  if  he 
can  hire  his  extras  from  some  military  force 
located  near-by,  for  then,  since  they  are  al- 
ready trained,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  rehearse 
the  play  itself.  But,  unfortunately  for  him, 
it  is  only  now  and  then  that  he  is  able  to  do 
this.  When  it  is  imperative  to  fall  back  on 
the  raw  material  a  troublesome  time  is  his 
lot. 

In  America  most  movie  soldiers  earn  five 
dollars  per  day.     The  average  extra  regards 

154 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        155 

the  work  as  secondary,  the  wage  envelope  be- 
ing the  first  consideration. 

A  good  many,  however,  do  not  relish  the 
idea  of  "dying  off"  early  in  the  scenes.  It  is 
such  a  tiresome  process,  especially  if  you  fall 
down  in  an  awkward  pose  and  badly  want  to 
change  to  a  more  comfortable  one  but  can't. 
Even  if  you  feel  like  retaliating  when  your 
brother  extras  pass  over  you  none  too  gently 
in  the  scrimmage,  you  mustn't. 

A  stray  shell,  though  not  in  the  least  harm- 
ful, may  quite  possibly  deal  you  a  blow.  It 
is  recorded  that  on  one  occasion  a  rebellion 
occurred  when  a  battle  drama  was  put  on.  A 
number  of  "soldiers"  frowned  on  the  idea  of 
having  to  retire  early  in  the  encounter,  and 
upon  the  apportionment  of  only  one  or  two 
cartridges  which  the  director  had  served  out 
to  them  to  this  end.  The  men  who  had  to 
survive  the  picture  came  in  for  a  rather  rough 
time  at  the  hands  of  their  less  fortunate 
brethren,  who  fought  to  gain  possession  of 
the  cartridges.  The  situation  being  more 
than  the  director  could  cope  with,  six  police- 
men were  called  in  to  restore  order.  Even- 
tually the  supers  were  persuaded  to  carry  out 


156       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

the  original  instructions.  When  extras  are 
recruited  locally  it  often  provides  them  an  op- 
portunity for  paying  back  grudges  harbored 
against  some  neighbor.  Some  are  so  clumsy 
in  wielding  their  weapons  that  their  fellow 
players  get  seriously  injured. 

Since  the  European  war  started  producers 
have  had  a  busy  time  supplying  the  demand 
for  battle  material.  There  is  a  story  told  of 
a  director  in  England  who  sent  a  hurry  call 
for  a  squad  of  picture  soldiers.  One  who 
had  served  in  the  British  Army,  when  told  he 
had  to  be  a  uGerman  Officer,"  asked,  indig- 
nantly: "And  what  recompense?"  On  be- 
ing told  it  would  only  amount  to  a  dollar  and 
a  quarter  he  was  so  offended  that  he  muttered 
something  about  not  being  a  German  at  any 
price  and  hastily  left  the  studio.  He  kept  his 
word,  too! 

An  English  coast  town  street  was  the  scene 
of  another  war-time  incident.  Dressed  as  an 
ordinary  soldier,  an  extra  passed  a  real  lieu- 
tenant, who,  finding  his  inferior  (as  he 
thought)  did  not  salute,  stopped  him,  saying, 
reprovingly:  "Are  you  not  aware  that  you 
must    salute    your    superior    officers?     And 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       157 

what  company  are  you  in?"  The  recruit  was 
taken  back  for  a  moment.  When  he  had  re- 
covered sufficiently,  he  replied,  "The  B 

Kinematograph  Company." 

In  rehearsing  his  men  the  director  delivers 
his  instructions  in  studio  slang  and  when  a 
portion  of  explanatory  matter  has  to  be  in- 
serted in  the  film,  he  calls  out,  "Hold  it!" 
meaning  holding  back  the  play  for  a  minute 
or  so.  One  new  extra  delayed  throwing  the 
smoke  bomb  he  held  in  his  hand,  for  when  the 
"Hold  it"  command  came  he  was  silly  enough 
to  act  accordingly.  It  cost  him  several  weeks 
in  the  hospital  with  no  pay. 

Even  in  filmland  the  practical  joker  is 
abroad.  In  one  picture  some  casks  of  "gun- 
powder" had  to  be  gathered,  supposedly  to 
explode  a  mine.  Before  rehearsals  one  ex- 
tra, smoking  a  pipe,  calmly  sat  on  one  of  the 
barrels,  which  incident  was  observed  by  the 
witty  one. 

"Hey!  Bill,  you're  smoking  on  a  cask  of 
gunpowder,"  he  shouted.  This  naturally 
caused  the  extras  close  at  hand  to  make  a  bee 
line  for  safety,  but  Bill  continued  to  sit  on  the 
barrel  and  smoke. 


158       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

"Put  out  your  pipe,  man.  You'll  blow  us 
all  up,"  said  one.  At  this,  Bill  grinned  and 
everybody  was  horrified  to  see  him  knock  the 
ashes  from  his  pipe  on  to  the  top  of  the  bar- 
rel. "It's  all  right,"  he  said  cheerfully,  "it's 
only  a  cask  of  beer." 

For  all  his  faults,  the  movie  soldier  cer- 
tainly makes  us  sit  up  and  take  notice  when 
we  see  his  work  on  the  magic  screen. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

WAGING  A   MOVIE   BATTLE   ON  THE   EURO- 
PEAN   WARRING    POWERS 

FOR  gallant  deeds  on  the  battlefield  sol- 
diers are  rewarded  with  medals. 

But  take  the  case  of  the  cinematographer 
at  the  front.  His  activities  practically  for- 
bidden by  the  warring  powers,  he  defies  all 
regulations,  censorship,  red  tape  and  forbid- 
den areas,  and  takes  pictures  under  the  great- 
est risks. 

But  what  does  he  care  when  the  interests 
of  us  movie  fans  are  at  stake?  It  fills  him 
with  the  spirit  of  adventure.  So  is  he  not 
really  as  deserving  of  honor  as  those  with  the 
fighting  forces?  His  daring  places  him  un- 
der as  great  and  as  many  risks  as  they  endure, 
and  yet  he  seldom  receives  the  appreciation 
he  deserves. 

When  this  war  is  over  a  fund  should  be  col- 

159 


i6o       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

lected  at  the  theaters  so  that  those  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  at  the  theater  of 
war  shall  be  awarded  medals  for  their  pluck 
and  resourcefulness.  The  very  least  we  can 
do  now  is  to  take  off  our  hats  to  the  camera 
man  whose  exploits  I  am  now  going  to  re- 
late. 

First  I  will  introduce  the  Universal  Squad. 
One  of  their  photographers  had  to  go  through 
the  ordeal  of  being  captured  by  the  Belgian 
authorities  and  made  to  stand  for  five  hours 
with  a  bayonet  nibbling  at  the  middle  of  his 
back.  Another,  Mr.  J.  M.  Downie,  was 
more  fortunate.  He  had  friends  in  the  Bel- 
gian and  French  armies  and  enjoyed  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  liberty  and  special  privilege. 
He  was  the  last  cinematographer  to  leave 
Antwerp  before  the  advent  of  the  Germans, 
and  secured  some  remarkable  scenes  of  the 
siege.  He  took  his  pictures  of  bursting 
shells  from  the  inside  of  a  cart.  But  he  was 
faced  by  a  greater  difficulty,  for  it  is  the  rule 
that  all  film  be  censored  before  it  is  sent  to 
England  and  the  authorities  deal  out  severe 
treatment  to  those  who  are  caught  smuggling. 

Two  more  of  their  men  working  together 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       161 

experienced  such  a  loss.  First  they  were  ap- 
prehended as  spies,  then  freed,  and  good  for- 
tune favoring  them,  they  gained  access  to  a 
battlefield.  They  soon  busied  themselves 
filming  a  German  cavalry  attack  on  the  Bel- 
gians, but  a  flying  bullet  ended  the  career  of 
one  of  their  cameras.  In  shifting  their  posi- 
tion they  openly  exposed  themselves,  and  to 
get  out  of  the  way  of  the  charging  cavalry, 
fled,  leaving  the  contents  of  the  damaged 
camera  behind,  much  to  their  regret. 

The  other  camera  contained  a  thrilling  film. 
They  got  away  with  it  on  a  train  which  was  so 
full  that  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  ride  on 
the  engine  and  on  the  front  of  this  they  car- 
ried their  apparatus  as  though  it  were  gold. 

At  the  station  when  they  alighted  a  police- 
man accosted  them;  they  made  an  attempt  to 
escape,  but  were  captured.  Then  the  unde- 
veloped film  was  inspected  despite  their  plead- 
ings. Of  course,  every  bit  was  spoilt  and 
their  labors  were  in  vain. 

Pathe  Freres  fared  better,  for  they  have 
been  appointed  official  cinematographers  to 
the  French  army.  Even  so  their  Mr.  H.  A. 
Sanders  had  enough  excitement  to  last  him  a 


162       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

lifetime.  When  he  wanted  to  get  to  Ostend 
after  hearing  that  the  Germans  were  ap- 
proaching Ghent,  he  boarded  a  motor  car 
containing  some  Belgian  soldiers.  To  add 
to  the  danger  was  a  Union  Jack  which  the 
auto  flaunted:  A  patrol  of  German  cyclists 
soon  pursued  them  and  to  get  out  of  dan- 
ger's way  the  chauffeur  put  on  full  speed,  car- 
ing nothing  for  brakes,  ditches  or  any  other 
obstacles.     They  effected  a  safe  getaway. 

Mr.  F.  Scales,  another  of  their  gallant 
representatives,  took  up  a  position  so  close 
to  the  Belgian  guns  during  a  big  battle  on  the 
Scheldt  that  he  was  warned  to  leave.  But  he 
still  kept  to  his  post  and  it  was  only  by 
threatening  to  destroy  his  film  that  they 
finally  got  him  out  of  the  way.  Some  realistic 
close  up  views  of  firing  shells  were  the  fruits 
for  his  bravery. 

J.  C.  Bee  Mason,  an  English  cinematog- 
rapher,  managed  to  travel  with  the  Belgian 
army  for  six  weeks,  during  which  time  he  ob- 
tained 6000  feet  of  film,  most  of  it  being 
taken  on  the  firing  line  from  unique  positions. 

One  day  a  Belgian  refugee  approached  him 
excitedly  and  thinking  he  wished  to  pose  be- 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        163 

fore  the  camera  Mr.  Mason  endeavored  to 
persuade  him  to  stand  against  a  wall.  But 
the  native  anxiously  pulled  Mr.  Mason  a  con- 
siderable distance  away,  and  the  next  minute 
a  shell  caused  the  wall  to  collapse.  It  was  a 
near  go,  but  Mr.  Mason  had  an  even  closer 
shave  than  this.  One  night  while  sleeping 
in  a  farmhouse  in  Grembergen  the  place  was 
struck  by  German  shells.  He  hid  under  the 
bed,  clutching  his  precious  camera,  fearing  for 
it  if  the  roof  should  fall  in.  Luckily  nothing 
eventful  occurred. 

When  the  Germans  entered  Ghent,  Mons. 
Bizeul,  an  Eclair  camera  man,  exposed  him- 
self to  great  danger  by  securing  a  second 
floor  room  in  a  cafe  facing  the  town  hall. 
There  he  patiently  watched  developments  and 
as  the  section  of  German  army  filed  past  for 
one  and  a  quarter  hours  he  manipulated  the 
camera  by  letting  the  lens  pass  through  the 
slightly  opened  window. 

A  certain  free  lance  American  cinematog- 
rapher  was  arrested  as  a  spy  by  the  Germans, 
but  after  his  identity  was  proved  he  was  re- 
leased only  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  French 
sentinel,  who  thought  him  to  be  a  German 


1 64       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

spy.  For  two  days  he  was  kept  a  prisoner 
and  when  the  French  came  to  realise  that  he 
was  an  American  on  business  they  freed  him. 
The  camera  man,  in  the  first  place,  invited 
suspicion  by  running  about  from  place  to  place 
whereas  he  should  have  proceeded  cautiously. 

Just  imagine  the  risk  involved  in  travelling 
over  forbidden  ground  where  one  had  to  hide 
amongst  provisions  in  a  freight  wagon  at- 
tached to  a  train  when  all  bridges  and  stations 
were  carefully  guarded.  This  is  the  risk 
taken  by  a  young  Englishman,  H.  S.  Hibbart, 
by  name,  in  order  to  film  the  Indian  forces  at 
the  front.  Here  he  was  arrested  and  his 
camera  and  film  confiscated.  Through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  journalistic  friend  of  high 
standing  he  was  deported  to  England  under 
the  charge  of  eight  armed  guards.  The 
journey  to  Paris  took  38  hours  instead  of  two 
and  the  menu  comprised  "bully"  beef,  bread 
and  jam.  Later,  however,  his  filming  appar- 
atus was  returned  to  him  safe  and  sound. 

Cherry  Kearton  made  many  attempts  to 
film  exploding  shells  at  the  Battle  of  Alost, 
but  he  found  that  they  were  barely  noticeable 
on  the  screen — there  was  a  flash  and  that  was 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        165 

all.  When  the  flying  fragments  of  one 
strikes  a  soldier,  he  slips  forward  a  little  and 
stirs  no  more. 

There  are  no  dense  volumes  of  smoke  and 
the  soldiers  do  not  fling  their  rifles  up  in  the 
air,  and  die  in  a  pose;  such  films,  Mr.  Kear- 
ton  declares,  are  fakes.  In  warfare  to-day 
smokeless  powder  is  the  only  kind  used,  for 
it  is  the  only  kind  which  does  not  give  the 
position  away  to  the  enemy. 

Pathe  Freres  operators  had  their  cameras 
equipped  with  a  telophoto  lens,  by  the  aid  of 
which  it  was  possible  to  cinematograph  sol- 
diers at  work  in  the  trenches  at  a  distance  of 
six  hundred  yards.  This  is  how  the  Pathe 
men  succeeded  in  getting  their  unique  and  in- 
timate views  of  the  fiercest  fighting,  for  the 
ordinary  lens  is  limited  to  a  range  of  two  hun- 
dred feet. 

Most  other  camera  men  have  dispensed 
with  the  cumbersome  motion  picture  machine 
and  instead  used  an  Aeroscope  camera,  which 
is  minus  a  tripod  and  therefore  easy  to  carry 
about.  But  even  this  does  not  do  away  with 
all  the  difficulties.  Mr.  Mason  will  back  me 
up  on  this  statement. 


1 66       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

To  keep  the  camera  steady  when  carrying 
out  his  work  he  was  obliged  to  adopt  sundry 
plans.  The  most  successful  one  was  to  strap 
the  camera  to  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  which  also 
afforded  protection  for  the  operator. 

At  another  time,  wanting  to  obtain  pictures 
of  the  Belgians  fighting  in  the  trenches,  Mr. 
Mason  laid  himself  flat  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  and  held  the  camera  up  in  front  of  him. 

His  one  great  scoop  was  some  remarkable 
panoramic  views  of  the  Germany  army.  To 
obtain  these  he  attached  a  coil  of  wire  to  the 
movie  machine,  tying  the  other  end  to  a  but- 
ton on  his  coat.  He  then  climbed  up  a  tele- 
graph pole  and  after  reaching  the  top  he 
tugged  at  the  wire  and  thus  got  the  camera  up 
safely.  The  final  operation  was  to  hold  it 
tightly  and  focus  the  camera  on  the  magnifi- 
cent sight  far  below,  ahead  of  him. 

Paul  Rader,  a  plucky  American,  managed 
to  film  pictures  of  an  artillery  duel  between 
the  French  and  Germans,  after  which  he 
rushed  to  the  nearest  vacated  house  and  hid 
both  camera  and  film  in  the  cellar.  A  few 
days  later,  when  the  fighting  had  shifted  to 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       167 

another  part  of  the  country,  he  returned  for 
his  belongings  and  was  successful  in  eluding 
the  vigilance  of  the  authorities  on  his  journey 
to  the  coast,  en  route  for  England. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE    MOVIE    FIRING   LINE    IN    ENGLAND 

WAR  brings  changes  in  its  wake.  The 
motion  picture  producers,  after  Brit- 
ain entered  the  European  conflict,  unani- 
mously decided  in  favor  of  war  photoplays. 

Their  judgment  may  have  been  faulty  at 
the  time  in  neglecting  to  take  the  thoughts  of 
millions  of  fans  away  from  the  war,  but  the 
craze  for  the  one  thing  spread  like  a  boomer- 
ang. It  was  here,  there  and  everywhere  and 
you  could  not  escape  it  anyhow.  So  why 
criticise  the  producers  for  following  the 
fashion? 

The  producers,  when  war  was  only  in  the 
air,  found  their  extras  disappearing  suddenly. 
They  soon  woke  up  to  the  fact  that  they  had 
been  employing  Germans  to  act  as  British 
soldiers. 

These  movie  armies  made  good  their  losses 

by  securing  the  services  of  laborers  of  all 

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at 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       169 

kinds  on  Saturday  afternoons  and  Sundays, 
the  manual  labor  of  their  everyday  work  fit- 
ting them  physically  for  their  parts. 

This  mania — for  it  was  nothing  else — for 
war  material  compelled  the  stage  costumiers 
to  work  overtime  to  cope  with  the  demand  for 
uniforms  of  the  various  warring  nations.  A 
director  friend  of  mine  wanted  to  equip  a 
British  force  in  khaki,  but  the  required  color 
was  not  obtainable  for  love  or  money.  Bless 
your  heart,  there  are  more  ways  than  one  of 
getting  over  the  situation.  "Who  would  de- 
tect," he  argued  to  himself,  "whether  the  uni- 
forms were  blue,  green  or  red  ?"  So  you  may 
rest  assured  he  is  mighty  thankful  that  the 
day  of  natural  color  cinematography  is  not 
here  yet. 

You  would,  were  you  to  inspect  the  studio 
grounds  of  the  Barker  Company,  be  inclined 
to  think  that  you  were  somewhere  in  Belgium 
on  the  firing  line  instead  of  in  a  peaceful  Lon- 
don suburb. 

Trenches  have  been  dug  and  a  row  of  "Bel- 
gian" houses  is  located  at  one  end,  while  a 
Red  Cross  Hospital  is  located  at  the  other. 
Then  you  will  probably  see  an  auto  bus  con- 


1 7o       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

taining  sixty  soldiers  in  khaki  about  to  pro- 
ceed on  a  trip  for  some  special  scenes. 

To  show  shells  exploding  presents  both  dif- 
ficulties and  dangers.  The  effect  is  produced 
by  burying  land  mines  in  the  ground  and  set- 
ting them  off  by  invisible  electric  wires.  I 
heard  quite  recently  that  one  of  these  not  only 
produced  a  miniature  earthquake,  but  sent 
debris  in  the  direction  of  the  camera  man  and 
broke  many  windows  in  the  studio  close  by, 
besides  necessitating  many  repairs  to  the  roof. 
The  noise  produced  harmed  the  hearing  of 
members  of  the  producing  forces,  many  hav- 
ing to  wear  artificial  ear  drums  in  conse- 
quence. 

The  war,  however,  is  going  to  prove  a  les- 
son for  the  producers.  After  it  is  over  they 
will  not  be  able  to  put  on  a  military  drama 
without  theoretical  knowledge  of  their  sub- 
ject, for  so  many  men  have  served  their  coun- 
try that  audiences  will  be  hyper-critical.  The 
producers,  to  begin  with,  will  have  to  discon- 
tinue using  powder  which  produces  clouds  of 
smoke  and  employ  the  genuine  article — 
smokeless  powder — in  its  place.  They  will, 
I  daresay,  find  it  hard  to  atone  for  the  loss 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        171 

of  much  of  the  spectacular  effect  which  they  so 
heartily  like. 

If  the  director  attempts,  as  another  in- 
stance, to  have  a  shelled  house  rapidly 
crumble  to  nothing,  his  efforts  will  not  pass 
muster.  Soldiers  who  have  seen  active  serv- 
ice say  that  a  building  only  gradually  col- 
lapses and  not  all  do  so  in  the  same  way. 

The  producer  has  other  difficulties  than 
those  arising  from  the  dangerousness  of  the 
material  he  handles.  Government  is  the 
chief  source  of  these. 

If  these  patriotic  films  were  shown  in  their 
original  state  in  America  they  would  violate 
our  neutrality.  They  are  therefore  subjected 
to  a  severe  pruning.  If,  for  instance,  the 
title  is  "Foiling  the  Fatherland"  it  is  amended 
to  "A  Foreign  Power  Outwitted";  but  never- 
theless German  uniforms  cannot  be  covered 
up  with  a  subtitle. 

Although  the  producers  are  doing  their  best 
to  assist  the  recruiting  movement,  the  British 
authorities  are  also  Very  sensitive.  They 
have  practically  tabooed  the  taking  of  coast 
scenes.  The  other  day  a  certain  leading  man 
of  a  certain  company  was  lounging  outside  the 


172       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

studio  dressed  in  a  khaki  uniform,  which  con- 
tained no  numbers  or  buttons,  when  a  too 
smart  policeman  took  him  in  charge.  That 
broke  up  the  work  for  the  rest  of  the  day;  and 
they  fined  him  for  wearing  His  Majesty's  uni- 
form without  serving  in  the  army! 

There  is  also  the  spy  mania.  A  well 
known  film  company  was  doing  a  war  subject 
near  a  military  camp  without  being  aware 
of  the  fact.  Lo,  and  behold,  if  a  sentinel 
didn't  observe  two  "Germans"  in  suspicious 
attitudes,  for  the  movies,  of  course.  He 
didn't  think  twice  about  arresting  them 
either!  and  it  took  a  lot  of  persuasion  and  in- 
fluence to  secure  their  release. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

THE   PRACTICAL    SIDE    OF    FILMING  THE 
EUROPEAN    WAR 

WHEN  a  motion  picture  camera  man  is 
assigned  for  duty  at  the  European 
firing  line  he  knows  well  enough  that  adven- 
tures  will   figure   prominently   in   his   work. 

But  in  spite  of  his  romantic  calling,  he  is 
constantly  reminded  of  the  practical  side  of 
his  work. 

He  earns,  it  is  true,  considerably  more  than 
the  war  correspondent  but  he  merits  every 
bit  of  it,  believe  me. 

He  will,  if  he  has  common  sense,  trust 
himself  to  Shank's  pony  when  moving  to  and 
from  the  firing  line.  On  his  arm  he  carries 
his  trusty  camera,  and  strapped  to  his  back  is 
probably  a  sack  which  contains  an  extra  sup- 
ply of  film  and  a  few  other  necessaries  to  tide 
him  over  until  he  returns  to  more  peaceful 
regions.     On  account  of  his   equipment  his 

173 


i74       MAKING  THE  MOVIES 

presence  does  not  arouse  unnecessary  sus- 
picion and  therefore  the  chances  of  his  being 
arrested  as  a  spy  are  minimized. 

One  cinematographer  had  daring  enough 
to  disguise  himself  as  an  army  chaplain,  in 
which  capacity  he  passed  many  difficult  points 
unchallenged. 

The  camera  is  different  from  that  used  for 
ordinary  purposes  in  that  bullet  proof  shields 
are  attached  so  as  to  protect  the  operator 
from  stray  shells.  It  is  positively  remark- 
able how  the  enemy  in  hiding  will  mistake  it 
for  a  machine  gun. 

The  camera  man  is  liable  to  be  caught  at 
any  time  and  have  his  film  and  machine  de- 
stroyed. Even  if  he  gets  it  over  to  England 
for  exhibition  in  that  country  it  may  be  re- 
jected by  the  censor  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose or  else  his  most  exciting  sections  will  be 
deleted.  All  this,  as  you  can  appreciate, 
means  waste  of  perfectly  good  film,  travel- 
ling expenses  and  the  operator's  time.  Then 
should  he  have  the  greatest  misfortune  of  all 
— the  loss  of  his  camera — his  employers  have 
to  write  down  a  loss  of  something  like  two 
hundred  dollars. 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES       175 

One  of  our  leading  film  producing  com- 
panies received  a  consignment  of  film  from 
their  men  in  Europe.  It  was  only  two  hun- 
dred feet  in  length,  yet  it  incurred  an  expense 
of  fourteen  thousand  perfectly  good  dollars. 
It  was  such  a  costly  morsel  of  negative  be- 
cause it  represented  two  weeks'  work  on  the 
part  of  three  operators. 

But  if  fillers  like  these  cost  so  much,  it  is 
certain  that  most  or  all  of  the  outlay  is  re- 
covered when  a  four  reel  motion  picture  made 
up  of  such  items  yields  (as  a  certain  one  re- 
cently yielded)  ten  thousand  dollars'  profit 
within  a  few  weeks  of  its  release. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN   A    FILM    FACTORY 

AFTER  a  photoplay  has  been  recorded 
by  the  camera,  the  negative,  on  which 
everything  is  recorded,  is  taken  to  be  devel- 
oped. 

The  interior  of  a  film  factory  reminds  you 
of  that  of  a  coal  mine.  You  enter  the  first 
workroom  and  find  it  as  black  as  night.  The 
guide  next  takes  you  along  a  gloomy  corridor 
lighted  only  by  darkened  lamps.  You  now 
enter  the  printing  room  and  note  its  uncanni- 
ness,  the  result  of  little  red  lights  that  appear 
at  the  peep  holes  of  the  printing  machines. 

The  printing  machines  somewhat  resemble 
penny  in  the  slot  machines,  except  that  a  mass 
of  contrivances  is  attached  to  them.  Were 
the  slightest  ray  of  daylight  to  penetrate  these 
machines,  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  dam- 
age would  be  done. 

To  guide  and  manipulate  the  negative  a 

girl  sits  in  front  of  each  machine.     As  the 

film  appears  on  the  reel  it  moves  into  an  open- 

176 


MAKING  THE  MOVIES        177 

ing,  then  passes  out  of  this  to  another  aper- 
ture, thence  to  a  box  underneath. 

The  film,  in  the  course  of  its  journey 
through  the  machine,  touches  a  portion  of 
sensitive  film  and  a  little  internal  electric 
light  appears  at  this  stage  to  help  complete 
the  exposure. 

The  negative  is  then  taken  to  the  develop- 
ing room,  which  is  darker  still,  and  wound 
upon  big  wooden  frames.  Girls  do  this 
work,  while  men  afterwards  dip  the  frames 
into  developing  and  fixing  solutions  and  lastly 
into  running  water. 

In  yet  another  room  are  a  number  of  large 
tanks,  each  one  containing  concoctions  of 
various  colors.  If  there  is  a  fire  in  the  film, 
that  portion  is  colored  red.  But  should  a 
portion  of  the  play  be  supposed  to  take  place 
at  night,  a  deep  blue  will  do  the  trick. 

Before  the  celluloid  films  leave  the  works 
they  are  washed  in  order  to  clear  them  of  any 
extraneous  chemicals  or  matter  which  might 
streak  or  scratch  the  pictures.  They  must, 
in  fact,  go  out  in  a  perfect  condition. 

THE    END 

PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


T 


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a   few    recent   Macmillan   Publications. 


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